Pretty things for ballerinas: Part 1

My friend Kylie has a little dance and ballet school called KRS dance in Southern Sydney. Recently she asked me to make her some presents to give to the little girls in her class who were trying especially hard. I have decided to make her some drawstring bags for ballet shoes and some little purses for hair ties and bobby pins using cute ballerina fabric I bought online.

To make it a bit of a challenge (and a good learning experience) I have decided to try and sew 10 different pieces. I will sew either a drawstring bag or a small purse of some kind but I'm going to try and experiment with fabric, style and embellishments. I'll throw in some tutorials too to keep it interesting for you too!

The first thing I made was a drawstring bag for carrying ballet, tap or jazz shoes. The casing for the ribbon is attached to the outside which makes it easier to put together I think. I'll do a tutorial for this one soon so you can have a go!

drawstring ballet shoe bag

 Next, I made a zippered purse  using one of my favourite Kokka patchwork fabrics. It's a nice blend of cotton and linen so it feels gorgeous. I'd like to make one of these for me too!

ballerina fabric coin purse- front

ballerina fabric coin purse- back

Next up I made two cute little snap closure wallets for housing hair accessories. Inside, there is a little pocket for the girls to put their bobby pins in neatly. 

This was also my first attempt at using ric rac as a trim. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and will definitely use it again.

snap closure purses

So i'm off to a decent start, 4 pieces down, 6 to go! I need to get creative and think of some different ideas for the next ones.

Suggestions welcome!