A New Stroller Bag

A couple of weeks ago, I received a request from "L" to make her a Stroller Bag and a Sophie Leash.   Like me, she was getting tired of the BIG DIAPER BAG and wanted something a little more streamlined.

This is the bag that I made for myself a while back (see other pictures here).

L wanted a different pattern so after digging through my stash of fabric, we found something that she liked! This is how it turned out.

Some more details...

All of this can fit in her stroller bag but still stay slim and streamlined!

Here is what she said:  Thank you so much! I love the bag! We went for a walk today, and I already had two people ask me where I got my bag from!!! :)   (Awww... I love it!!!)

Now that you have seen what is in my stroller bag, what's in yours?

What an Exciting Week!

This week, I planned to do lots of crafty things and post nice pictures of the stuff I made. But, I didn't end up doing much of that.

We went to the library and the kids listened to some Caillou stories on the computer.

On Wednesday, we went to my Mom's house, got caught up, and serged this pile of fabric (and more!). I'm still trying to decide which serger to buy for myself. If you have a serger, please let me know which model you have!

Then on Thursday, I was interviewed by Sue Deyell from RemodelIt.ca. Back in January, she emailed me and asked if I would be interested in doing an interview for her online radio show. Of course I said "yes"!! I sent her two leashes for her kids to try out so she could see how these were used and get a better sense of the product. Once she had a chance to use them (the kids didn't lose their toys!!), we booked some time for a chat. It was supposed to be on Tuesday, but got bumped to Thursday so I had to wait a little bit longer. That was ok by me since it's been a long time since I did an interview where I wasn't the one asking the questions. But it wasn't too hard... she asked me about my internet shop Josh & Teo, selling on ETSY, and my toy leashes. It was over before I knew it! I'm now waiting to hear when it will air.

Friday, I had a business meeting with a store in Toronto called Kid Culture. It is a seriously cute shop that sells handmade baby/kid items made by local artisans. I can see my products in this shop and the owner agreed too! Click here to read an article and see more cute pictures of this store. Time to start sewing because in the next couple of weeks, my toy leashes will be available for sale at Kid Culture!

(Image Credit: Caroline Aksich taken from Toronto Life.com)

Thank goodness it's now the weekend. I'm exhausted!

Toddler Backpack: Dump Truck for Shannon

I love making toddler backpacks.  This one is for Shannon's son.  She originally wanted to buy him a choo choo train backpack but decided on the dump truck design. I wish I could've been a fly on the wall when she gave this to her little boy.   She sent me a note afterwards which really made my day. Her son loves it and will only take it off long enough to put more stuff into it. Awww!!!! Now that's what I like to hear :o)

This past summer, I had made a backpack for little J (blogged about it here).  The face of the backpack is the same but the details are different.  Shannon chose to use dark brown as her accent colour instead of white.   Hence, the piping, zipper, side pocket trim, and strap webbing are dark brown.  Also, this one is a true toddler backpack sized for little bodies.

I'm making a new backpack this week and will post pictures once I have them ready.  I've also been "told" by Joshie that I need to make him a "mean T Rex" backpack so he can bring it with him on his first day of school.


I create and sell toddler backpacks through my Josh & Teo ETSY Shop.  However, if you know how to sew and would like to tackle this project, visit Made by Rae's website to purchase a PDF copy of the pattern.  

Happy Sewing!

Time to start thinking about Back to School!

Although it's hard to imagine during today's heat wave, September will be here before we know it.  I love back to school shopping - new pencils, backpacks, clothes.
Here's a lovely ETSY treasury featuring the school theme (and includes my toddler backpack!)

Stroller Bag Heaven

OK... I know the title sounds a little odd but I "heart" my new stroller bag.  I've been designing this bag in my sleep for the past two weeks and just finished it this past weekend.

It has everything I need and allows me to bring what I need vs lugging my whole life.
Available now for sale in my ETSY Shop.

Here is the finished product!

This is what I put inside:
- change pad, diapers, wipes
- nursing cover
- phone, wallet, camera
- snacks


Later I added some extra clothes for the kids.

  
When I don't need it, I can hang it up

Or roll it up

There are 2 pockets inside for easy access to a cell phone or wallet

Also fits onto my Sit 'n Stand

Cheeky Monkey doesn't complain anymore that my shoulder bag is hitting him in the back :o)

When we no longer need to use a stroller, we can use it with our grocery shopping cart!

ETSY Treasuries

I recently opened up an ETSY shop to sell some of my handmade baby items.
They have this cool feature called Treasuries which is a gallery of photos that are curated by and for ETSY members.  I was featured in several treasuries over the last 2 months!


Here is the wrist wallet



and the Toy Leashes for Sophie the Giraffe. Can you spot the giraffes?