felt + fabric = fabulous

Look what my friend Lauren crocheted:

She even made one for me for Christmas (I'm so lucky!):

We went to university together 20 years ago and Lauren has been making her living as a geoscientist ever since. Recently she let her crafty flag fly by getting back into crochet. She designed these bags herself, crocheted them, then felted them and achieved amazing results! I added the linings in both of our bags from fabric we chose out of my stash. Here's hers:

And mine (just gonna say it again - lucky!)

I love mine so much - including the special caribou antler button made by one of Lauren's friends who works in the Arctic. He salvages dropped caribou antlers from the tundra and saws them into these gorgeous button shapes.

Is anyone interested in a tutorial for making an internal zipper pocket? These pockets sit between your lining and the outer bag and are finished with a tidy zipper. Let me know...

We're getting together tonight for a very special event. Greg Mortenson, the incredible man behind the story of Three Cups of Tea, and it's recent follow-up book, Stones Into Schools is speaking here tonight and we're going to see him!! I can't wait. I am greatly inspired by his dedication to building schools in remote Pakistan and Afghanistan for educating girls and ultimately, promoting peace.