A Spoonful of Sugar Blog Tour: Tula Pink Nautical Treasure Bag

It’s my stop on the “A Spoonful of Sugar” by Lisa Cox Blog Tour today and I’m so excited to be sharing my make from this fabulous book with you all. I have to admit that this type of sewing makes me nervous. I watch with envy on Instagram when I see Lisa post her beautiful creations and wish that I was able to pull off the same sweet style. I feel like a bull in a China Shop in comparison with my love of big, bold, bright colours and the good old novelty print, but this book taught me something; I can make the same wonderful projects using the fabrics I like and still capture that sweet zap style. It was great!

I’ve been a secret (maybe not so secret at times) admirer of Lisa’s work for awhile now and when she emailed me to ask me be apart of her blog tour I was so thrilled. (Like seriously did a little happy dance!) I immediately said yes and then panicked about whether I’d be able to do it justice.  Lisa writes over at A Spoonful of Sugar with her daughter Sarah and it’s an amazing space filled with wonderful tutorials and great projects. I like to spend hours over there just looking, drooling and dreaming of a life filled with all those amazing things.

There’s so many great projects in this book and I love that none of them are overly time consuming (which was especially handy as I whipped this up the night before the Little Man and I flew out on our mini holiday). As I looked through the book I was drawn to so many of the projects, but the minute I saw the Nautical Treasure Bags I just knew I had to make one. I’m a sucker for a handy bag or pouch for carrying all those little things that I don’t want to get lost.  

I also knew the moment I saw it that I wanted to use some of my most favourite Tula Pink; Saltwater. I adore this octopus print and somewhere in the back of my mind I knew there was a matching ribbon to go with it. I was so lucky to be able to find more of the print and some of the ribbon at Clair’s Fabrics. I have another confession, I’ve never worked with ribbon before. I’ve seen it used a lot and I often lose a good few minutes standing in front of the ribbon stalls at craft shows, but I never buy any. But that was before, now I’m addicted to ribbon and have started collecting it. I have no idea what I’ll use it for, but I’m totally blaming Lisa for getting me hooked!

I purposefully fussy cut the octopus fabric to make it look like he was about to rise from the deep and wrap his arms around my little boat. I also fussy cut the anchor and buoys to make it look like the cushioning on the side of boats for when they’re moored at the pier and like the anchor was ready to drop. This bag went together so quickly and I love the attention to detail of the little ribbon and the use of ric rac. The bottom of the bag has been made to expand (it’s a very clever little trick that I’m excited to use in other projects) so you can fit twice as much in it (especially handy if you’re using it to stash your chocolates in!).

I’m really chuffed with how it turned out and I’m totally going to make more. They’re so handy and would make a great alternative to buying paper gift bags. (Also handy for inclusions in swaps!)

If you like the look of this bag, or you want to see what the (seriously impressively draughting) other bloggers are making then be sure to check out the links below and track them down on Instagram. I’m in love with all of the projects and I can seriously see myself making more from this book. If you’d like to purchase the book you can find it here: “A Spoonful of Sugar” by Lisa Cox.

Blog Tour Schedule:

April 26            Jodie Carlton – Ric Rac (@jodiericrac)
April 27            Minki Kim – Minki’s Work Table (@zeriano)
April 28            Melissa LeRay – Oh How Sweet (@ohhowsweetco)
April 29            Jemima Flendt – Tied With a Ribbon (@tiedwitharibbon)
April 30            Beverley McCullough – Flamingo Toes (@flamingoteos)

May 2              Sedef Imer – Down Grapevine Lane  (@downgrapevinelane)
May 3              Nadra Ridgeway – Ellis and Higgs  (@ellisandhiggs)
May 4              Amy Morinaka – Chick Chick Sewing (@chickchicksewing)
May 5              Caroline Critchfield – Sew Can She (@sewcanshe)
May 6              Kristyne Czepuryk – Pretty By Hand (@prettybyhand)
May 7              Bronwyn Hayes – Red Brolly (@red_brolly)

May 9              Anorina Morris – Samelia’s Mum (@sameliasmum)
May 10            Peta Peace – She Quilts A Lot (@shequiltsalot)
May 11            Faith Essenburg – Sarana Ave (@faithessenburg)
May 12            Angie Wilson – Gnome Angel (@gnomeangel)
May 13            Sharon Burgess – Lilabelle Lane Creations (@lilabellelane)
May 14            Stacy Olson – Stacy Olson (@stacyolsondesign)

May 16            Ayda Algin – Cafenohut (@cafenohut)
May 17            Jennie Pickett – Clover and Violet (@cloverandviolet)
May 18            Wynn Tan – Zakka Art (@zakkaart)
May 19            Lisa Cox – A Spoonful of Sugar (@aspoonfulsugar)

There is a Instagram Sew Along planned for June-July with lots of prizes, generously sponsored by online fabric store, Ministry of Fabric. So get your copy of A Spoonful of Sugar and start planning your projects. We would love to have you join in the fun! #ASPOONFULOFSUGARSAL

Disclosure: This book was provided for review by the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced by the businesses involved. For further information about my disclosure policy please click here. This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a very small commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link, in fact in some cases I can offer you a better price via an affiliate link. I will not recommend something that I do not use myself. These commissions help me keep being able to provide you with great content for free. Thank you, in advance for your support!