This summer it was time to buy a new beach umbrella. There are so many options these days, but I wanted lightweight and inexpensive. I picked one up at the local drug store that fit those two criteria, but later discovered it had one shortcoming. There was no strap to wrap around the umbrella part to keep it neat and contained when it was down. This leads to the umbrella fabric getting beaten up pretty quickly. In the past, I’ve used a small bungee cord for this, but experience has taught me that the metal hook of the bungee cord + salt water = rusty spots and corrosion on the fabric of the umbrella.
This time, I made a bag for it. This project was so down and dirty, I did not even iron the fabric before I started. I found a long skinny piece in my stash, folded it, sewed it, inserted the drawstring cord and called it done. I didn’t even try for matching thread, just used what was already in the machine. I’m calling the white stitching a ‘design element.’ Normally I would take much more care with a sewing project, but the utilitarian use of this coupled with my knowledge that I would get it done if I did not have to haul out the ironing board meant the difference between a finished project, and one still on the to-do list.
alookatthelittlethings 