Cosmetic Bags for the Bride, Bridesmaids, and Mothers

My second gift to Amanda was these cosmetic or travel bags for the bridesmaids and the mothers. I wanted a specific cotton fabric to embroider on and it took me weeks and a lot of searching the web for what I was looking for. I don't think you can see the detail in the white cotton fabric, but it has seashells and it was perfect.  In a few of the pictures below, the detail of the seashells is more prominent. 

The coral and teal fabric below was exceptional compliments for what I envisioned for the bags. 

When preparing the bag, I used the coral satin for the lining and iron on interfacing.

The next step was to embroider the outside of the bags. 

The design I picked was from a package from Designs by JuJu at https://www.designsbyjuju.com/wedding-word-art-2. It included the design for the Mom's and for the Bride. 

I embroidered one side with "I Do Crew" and the opposite side with the girl's names. 

For the mom's, I embroidered the saying of "They lived happily ever after" hoping the moms would think of Amanda and Eddie in that way.

You can see the shell detail of the white fabric much better in these photos.

The bride's bag is her title on one side and name on the other.

 

Don't tell anyone, but these Dollar Store compacts were something I stumbled upon while in there one day. Personalization with the letter of their first name made them extra special.

I enjoy making jewelry and have done so for about ten years. I decided early I would put a pair in each of the bags for the bridesmaids to wear with their casual outfits during the week or after. 

Amanda is partial to gold and I added a bead of coral to match the wedding color. 

Except for the time it took, I enjoyed making all of these gifts. I only hope the recipients enjoyed them as much as I did creating them.

The final gift from Amanda to her bridesmaids. She is a stylist so it was natural to have some special hair products and a manicure set for the girls. 

Lessons learned:
1. Wish I thought to take a picture of the girls with their bags. :(
2. Know your limits. When I get an idea in my head I'll search the world (wide web) for the particular fabric or embroidery design I want. Such was the case for the white cotton, shell print fabric. It took me weeks to find what I wanted and, luckily, I got it for a decent price. Did it stress me out? Yes.  Was it worth the aggravation? Yes.  I guess this is just who I am.
3.  Plan for some time to complete what you want to create. This particular project, plus the groomsmen gift took me all summer of 2017 to complete. Am I happy it took my summer vacation from work to complete these things? No. Was it worth it? Yes!
4. Take some time to learn how to use your machines if a project this complicated is in your future.  I  am a newbie with embroidery on my new machine. I was scared these would be a total flop. All in all, I think they turned out well.
5. Do what you love, Love what you do!

Have you ever experienced some of the situations I wrote about? I'd love to hear about them if you have.