presents with plenty of piping at the pizza pool party

so last night my friend shannon had a pool party to celebrate her birthday, and also the half birthday of her daughter lila. i used to be their family's nanny (lila is 5 and enzo is 2), and we still hang out. it was great to see these guys again, and the pool party was lots of fun. i can't remember the last time i swam in a pool. i live on the other side of town now, so it was nice to see folks from the neighborhood who i rarely have the chance to see. and lila taught me how to go underwater without holding my nose-- i trick i have somehow not picked up in my 27 years.



above: me and lila probably two years ago. we visited the photo booth after school one day.



also, i made them some little gifts-- involving lots of piping, of course.



above: the front of shannon's bag with two exterior pockets with little flaps. (the buttons are just for show. there is secret velcro under the flaps and on the pockets, because sometimes when you are a mom, you only have one hand to open a pocket with.)


above: the back of shannon's bag, with a large exterior pocket and a real button closure.


above: i sewed two little loops into the interior of the bag-- one with a d-ring so she can clip her keys onto it, and one with a clip. i hooked a little wallet i made onto the clip. it has little pockets for cards and cash, etc. no more digging around in the bottom of your purse, shannon! also, there are four fairly roomy pockets on the inside!


and for lila...



a few months back, lila attended the opening reception of a show of my work at cafe estelle, and saw a bag that i made with a flap that was completely covered in mismatched buttons. it was too large for her, but she asked me to make her a smaller version, with a zipper. it only took me about 3 months, but i finally got around to it.


above: the back of lila's bag, with pink polka dots and little vintage flower appliques (and of course hot pink piping around the sides and flap and even the little interior pockets!)


above: i sewed the usual madebyhank logo, but customized it with "for lila" in parenthesis.



and for enzo...



a small hip pouch. enzo loves to carry things around with him. it is pretty amazing how many objects he can fit in his tiny hands at once. i made him this little hip pouch so he can carry lots of little objects around with him, but sometimes be able to use his hands.



above: said presents, all wrapped up and ready to go.