Last Friday I took my Firefly Tote along for a boat ride. Filled it up with sunscreen, water bottle, wallet, and iphone. All the essentials. I could have added the cat and lunch but cats don’t like boat rides and I’m on a diet. Perpetually.

We just got the boat back from the second repair place it has been in this year. This time it was a fuel pump. Last time it was ???? Can’t keep track. We went slowly through the canals and hit the water where we could speed up and the boat died. Yikes! Of course, I thought the worse. Turns out. It was out of gas. Something that would never happen to me. Half a tank is empty. I live in Florida where hurricane visits every summer and gas lines are long. Anyhow. When the boat went to the marina for it’s spa visit, it had plenty of gas. When it came home it was empty. A neighbor rescued us, and we went merrily on our way.

While all the stuff fit quite nicely in my Firefly Tote, I didn’t think about the very real possibility of rain. Which, of course, we came across because we live in Florida. It rains with no notice. In the summer. Sun could be out. Rain. And water does come into the boat when we are going FAST. So I need a waterproof tote. Maybe that will be my third firefly tote!!! This one will just have to be a car ride tote!

And here’s Miss Kitty attacking my sandals after I got back. My first cat. I knew dogs ate shoes. This was news to me. Or maybe she really did want to go on that boat ride and is taking her anger out on my footwear.

If you are not doing the Sew-A-Long, the rest of this is gobbledygook (I think that’s a term my mother occasionally used when talking to me) so just ignore it!

And we are back to the Sew-A-Long from Noodlehead. This is week one. I read the newsletter and watched the included video. It’s very thorough. I’m using bits and pieces of fabric I have left from other projects so had to adjust some of my pieces. I only had a 1/2 yard of each of the fabric for the drawstring and the lining and it calls for 1 yard for each. I’m also putting a pocket on the back.

Here is all my fabric, cut out and labeled. I was still indecisive about the zipper at this point.

This week we cut all the pieces out and fused the interfacings. For the pocket on the back, I cut the same side and center pieces as the front. I’m not putting a zipper on this pocket so instead of pocket A and B plus lining, I just cut a 14″ piece of accent fabric, lining, and woven interfacing. Stitched the pieces RST together along the top with a 1/2″ seam, turned WST, pressed, and top stitched.

I’m using one-way fabric for my accent pocket with the zipper and the instructor addressed that issue in the video. You have to put pocket B with the print upside down.

Here’s my version before folding together:

And both pockets ready for adding to the front and back:

And all the pieces ready for the next newsletter!