Tote Bag Update and Video Tutorial

Hello Sewists!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. My husband and I spent it at the Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience! I won free tickets so we went all three days and had a blast! Yesterday we also had a bbq at our house with my husband's family and my sisters are coming over today for Easter dinner. Lots of fun with lots of people!

Lots of updates today! I just got an email from Joann's Fabric that mentioned they have free video tutorials online through Craftsy. You can sign up for free with Facebook for just an email address. I decided to see what they had and what do you know they have a tote bag and zipper pouch tutorial right on the front page! Kristin does her bags a little differently that the tutorial I posted before but they turn out the same and are just as cute. Hers even have a pocket inside! The videos are great for those that have a hard time with the written instructions from my previous posted tutorial. The whole tutorial is broken down in to multiple videos and they roll right into the next video in line. Here is the link for the first video:

Topic 1: What You'll Need

Now, the bags we want to give to patients don't have to have the pocket or the zipper pouch but if you are feeling generous and enthusiastic, go for it! I'm excited to try making a few bags this way to see how they turn out.

My friend brought over a garbage bag FULL of fabric for us to use. We spent a while pairing fabrics together and cutting them to manageable sizes. She is handing them out to ladies at her church that have volunteered to sew bags.

My mother in law also brought bags with her to the bbq yesterday bringing my total number of bags up to 21! I know there are ladies working on more of them and can't wait to see them all! Here are all the bags I have right now!

Last Sunday my family and I all went together to take one of the bags to Primary Children's Hospital here in Salt Lake. A girl I went to high school with has a 5 year old daughter that has relapsed and has leukemia again. Their family lives directly across the street from my family and they are in the same church ward. Along with the standard journal, pen, lotion and chocolate we added some toys and a sticker book. She wasn't feeling well that day from the steroid treatment she was on but we hope she can enjoy her gifts.

My parents took a second bag home to a family friend of ours who was diagnosed last month with an aggressive uterine cancer. She will actually be a patient at the radiation oncology office my mom works at (where all the bags are going). My mom also took a third bag with her to show everyone at the office what the bags will look like and everyone was so excited! She gave the third bag to a new patient and she loved it! I can hardly wait for June 1st to deliver all the bags! Also, since the office serves men and women we decide to give the men water bottles filled with gifts instead of the bags since most men I know don't want or have any use for a cute handbag.

With the monetary donations I have received I bought fabric and the rest was spent on lotion. To date we have more journals than we hoped for, enough pens and enough lotion. So all we need now are the bags and individually wrapped candy/chocolate or money to buy things with. We also have enough water bottles for the guys.

Tote Project Progress 4-10-14

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to update you all on how things are going with the tote bag project. Items and bags are starting to roll in and I'm so excited to see where we will end up!

Here are some examples of the bags that have been sewn thus far. They are all so cute! I want one of each of them to keep for myself!

Someone generously donated 100 chapsticks to go in the bags.

We have 150+ journals!! Staples was kind enough to donate 100 memo pads (the ones on the left) and I received 48 from a woman at my company plus more from people at church. How awesome would it be if we made enough bags to use up all these journals?

We went with these travel size Aveeno lotions because they are the cheapest ($0.97 each) and they are fragrance free. I have almost 100 of those.

Someone from work hit two service birds with one stone by buying these chocolates from another fundraiser and donating them to our cause. We're still very short in the candy/chocolate department but are hoping for more individually wrapped donations like these.

I'd like to thank all of you that have helped with this project so far! I have handed out fabric that was donated to people that have volunteered to sew bags. The deadline is creeping up but I don't down we'll meet and maybe exceed our goal of 100 filled tote bags. Thanks again!

Whitney

First Bag Sewn!

I wanted to post an update on the Totes for Cancer Patients. I have been promoting the project among friends and family and just shared them at work as well.

I have received monetary donations for the project and on Tuesday night I went to Jo-Ann's to buy fabric with that money. I found some really cute prints on sale and got everything I wanted for the exact amount I went in with. Go me! Look how cute!

This is everything I got!

First pairing

Second pairing

Third pairing

Fourth pairing

Last night (Wednesday) I finally had some down time so I was able to sew the first tote bag. Can I just say that I LOVE how it turned out! It is the very basic model but it turned out adorable! I totally recommend everyone make one because they are so simple. It is just a straight stitch around edges. No fancy zigzags or zippers (unless you want to get fancy and add things). See below for a link to the tutorial for these cute, easy bags! 

 Outside

Turned inside out

Speaking of sewing, I could really use people that know how to sew. I can only sew so many bags alone. I can provide you with fabric if you don't have any of your own to use. Please contact me if you can help me by sewing even just one bag! schofield.whitney@gmail.com

The deadline date has been moved so please plan accordingly. Below I am putting a quick reference list so any info you need is listed there.

Quick Info:

• We are donating these tote bags to Gamma West Cancer Services in St. George, Utah
• Deadline to have everything sewn and filled: June 1st, 2014
• Items needed: fabric (1 yard increments), thread, journals, pens, lotion, monetary donations to purchase supplies
• Link to tutorial on how to sew the tote bags: Here
• Link to MJ's blog where the idea originated: Here

Totes for Breast Cancer Patients

Dear Friends and Family,

I recently came across a service project by MJ from her blog here where she tells part of her story. She is a breast cancer survivor and wanted to give care packages to others diagnosed with breast cancer. The idea is the patient receives a hand-sewn, reversible tote filled with a diary, a pen, some chocolates and some all natural lotion (no chemicals, etc).

I have decided to start the same project here in Utah. My mom works for Gamma West Cancer Services in St. George, Utah. It is a radiation oncology office where patients go to receive their prescribed radiation treatment. We'd like to create a stockpile of these totes for patients to receive when they come in.

As MJ says in her blog post: "Our goal is to distribute at least 100 hand-made tote bags. We want those that receive them to know that they are not alone and that there is a network of supporters and cheerleaders encouraging them in this fight before they ever leave the doctor's office."

Here is how it will work:

1. Make a couple one-of-a-kind totes:

- Here is a link to get the basic instructions for making a lined/reversible tote-bag. It is sturdy and simple. Beginner seamstresses can totally do this one.

- Use fabric patterns that you would enjoy in a moment of crisis. Perhaps you would enjoy something bright and fun. Others might appreciate colors that are lovely and calming, etc.

- Add an embellishment or two. I actually don't know how to tat but if you want to incorporate something like a flower or bow into the design of your masterpiece(s) we'd be extra impressed.

2. If you don't feel comfortable sewing please donate fabric or items to go into the tote bags. We are looking for:

- Fabric of all colors and patterns.

- Diaries of all colors. Preferably smaller than a sheet of printer paper. Think something easy to store in a purse-sized tote bag.

- Pens. Sky's the limit to colors and how many you donate. I know there are packs of regular pens available at the Dollar Store but if you feel gracious, sparkly gel pens or unique colors are really fun.

- Bite size chocolates. Again, sky's the limit here. Wal-Mart always has bags of chocolates ranging from every-day to fancy brands.

- All-Natural Creams or Lotions. Try to go for high quality products that will fit in the tote bag that are free of chemicals, dyes and scents. There are many ideas and options online.

3. Mail all your items to me by Mother's Day, Sunday, May 11th, 2014

Whitney Schofield

344 E 5300 S

Murray, UT 84107

*For those of you that live in St. George send me an email and I will give you an address where you can drop off your donations.

Send me an email for questions or comments and to let me know the package is on its way: schofield.whitney@gmail.com

I will keep the project updated here ever week or so.

Get started! If you would like a couple friendly reminders about your goal to join this cause, send me an email and I will add you to a reminder mailing list. Many thanks in advance!

Whitney

P.S. PLEASE spread the word around to your own friends and family as well as your Facebook. The more the merrier!

Great Thought For Today

A friend on Facebook posted this quote today and I loved it.

"You are not a victim. No matter what you have been through, you're still here. You may have been challenged, hurt, betrayed, beaten, and discouraged, but nothing has defeated you. You are still here! You have been delayed but not denied. You are not a victim, you are a victor. You have a history of victory."
-- Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

I was told something similar a long time ago but hadn't thought of it in a while. I encourage you all to say these words to yourselves, "I am a victor! I am triumphant over my past!"

Whitney

Just to Clear Things Up

After my last blog post my parents have been fielding a lot of questions from friends and family. I just wanted to let everyone know that no one in my immediate or extended family was involved in my abuse. I didn't tell my parents about it until after I was married. They don't know any of the details so come to me if you have questions. I am very open and willing to talk about it. Know that I am fine and have put this all behind me. I would really like to help others that have struggled with this issue even if I am just someone to talk to. Thank you all for your concern. I hope that cleared up any confusion.

Perks of Being a Wallflower

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this movie. My sister just wrote a great blog post about how Perks affected her. You should check it out: http://lifeisabutte.blogspot.com/. She mentions that the "We are infinite." line really resonated with her. I'm glad she posted this because it reminded me how the movie made me feel and the specific lines that stuck with me. I have been meaning to post about it but have kept putting it off. I texted them to myself that night so I wouldn't forget them.

There were two lines in particular that went straight through me. The first being, "We accept the love we think we deserve." In the movie I believe this is when Charlie is asking Sam why she dates dirt bags. I felt my heart fissure when I heard this line and my eyes instantly welled up. As someone who is a sexual abuse survivor this brought flash backs to the time in my life that I thought I deserved the treatment I was getting. I believed that I didn't deserve any better. I was broken and confused and thought that I loved and was loved by that person. In that small moment of the movie I went through many thoughts and emotions in an instant. I thought back to that time specifically. I thought about the struggles I had with guilt and my self-worth. I thought about the group therapy I went through and how terrifying and hard that was. I thought about the shining moments when I remembered that I was worth so much more than I thought; that I did deserve true love and respect. I am so glad to be in a place in my life where I have the love of my life by my side who treats me like a queen and makes me feel so wonderful.

The second line that struck me was "We can't choose where we come from but we can choose where we go from there." This was at the end of the movie when Charlie is talking to the doctor. That brought a fresh wave of tears. These were more inspiring tears than sad. The truth of the statement is what set me off. The truth that you can move on from whatever your past was. You can become who you want to become regardless of your past. I can turn my experiences into teaching opportunities or use them as connections to other people that may need help or someone to relate to. I have heard of other people who have had similar experiences to mine and have let it consume their whole life and can't see a way beyond it. My heart aches for them because I have been there. Our free agency allows us to choose to focus on the negative/past or the positive/future. I am eternally grateful that I have been able to find the positive and move on. This is greatly due to my amazing support system of family and friends. Choose today to live a happy life. Don't let your troubled past win. Choose to surround yourself with people that truly love you and respect you. Don't waste your time on people that bring you down. Love yourself. I know it is hard but I know you can do it! I still struggle with things and I continue to learn more and more about myself all the time. Please know that I am very open with what happened to me and if you need someone to talk to (even anonymously, find me on ask.fm) I am here for you. Keep your head up and become who you are supposed to be!

Whitney