EPT revealed

These are the Embryonic Pod Things in their true form:

They're shoe bags/project bags/whatever-you-want-them-to-be bags (linking to the go-to tutorial) that I made for the Magpies' biennial get-together. This year, it was held in Maine (if that's a surprise, you're not paying attention!)

The best part? All of these were made of scraps that I've held onto for decades. Most of these are upholstery samples; some are fabrics found by friends and given to me to use. These are all lined as well, so that's double the use-it-up fun! The only out-of-pocket expense was the zippers.

When I made 17 of these back in March, JoAnn's was selling Separating Sports zippers. This time around, all I could find were separating parka zippers, which had 2 zipper heads and an additional $2 on the price tag. But I soon found that not only could I mix-'n'-match zipper halves, I could also add a third color with the zipper head, and have several heads left over for later projects. Lemons=>Lemonade.

The bottom of each bag is a double layer of the plastic mesh left-overs from the Cabana Tote Bags I've been making over the years. I have a 100'-x-11.5" roll of this mesh, so I'm always looking for ways to use it up.

The first bag I embroidered wasn't quite right. I really wanted both sides to be facing in the same direction. But I learned how to embroider on velvet with this one, without leaving 'hoop burns' on the fabric. (It's lined with the red & white fabric used for the handle.)

But, as far as flubs go, this wasn't a deal-breaker! It was snapped up by one of the Magpies. We had one Magpie who had to cancel at the last minute, so I ended up with my own bag too (the one featured in the middle [zipper] picture). I can always use another project bag!