Last fall, a friend of mine introduced me to The B-More Bags Project, a fundraising project of House of Ruth.
The House of Ruth Maryland leads the fight to end violence against women and their children by confronting the attitudes, behaviors and systems that perpetuate it, and by providing victims with the services necessary to rebuild their lives safely and free of fear.
Our vision is that one day, every woman in Maryland will be safe in her own home. (from their mission page)
They are always looking for people who love to sew. Bags are one of my favorite things to sew (which you will know if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile). They do have a shop where you can go in and sew but much of the sewing is done on your own time. This seemed like a perfect way for me to help others while still accommodating my need to be with my kids. Also, about once a month, I get to leave the kids with Nik and go sew with a bunch of really great women – definitely a huge attraction of B-More Bags!
Back in November, I went to the shop for the first time to learn how to sew a bag. I ended up sewing the Geo-Metro and here it is!
In early February, I went back again for the second time, started on one tote bag and brought that one plus another kit home. So last week, I powered through and sewed two totes.
The label makes me feel very official!
The second one I sewed was much easier (having learned a few things while sewing the first bag). I did a significantly better job on it except that I TOTALLY spaced out when doing the inset zipper pocket and completely forgot to center it. OOPS! I was so mad at myself when I realized I’d done that.
See how bad it is? I told them they’ll have to sell it at a discount or something. It’s actually a really beautiful bag and lovely to the touch so I hope someone is willing to look past that flaw and buy it (especially because it’s still completely functional).
My goal is to sew at least one bag a month. They’re sold at Ruth’s Closet (in Owings Mills), at one big trunk show in early December. Additionally, this year they’re adding a Mother’s Day sale in May. I’ll be sure to remind you all when the sale is near so you can go and buy one of the bags that I (and the other amazing women) have sewn! I love being a Baguette!
Salmon and Souvlaki 
Very Cool! It’s always great to combine hobbies with helping others. I’m glad that in the sewing world there are so many ways to do this!
Yes, me too!!
If your zipper ever ends up off-center again, maybe you could add a vertical patch pocket on the end to hold pens/pencils.
Thanks for that idea! For this particular project, the bags come in kits so I didn’t have any extra fabric to add anything more than what the pattern called for. However, I’ll keep that in mind in case I lose my mind again! 🙂