Sarah Jane on Parade or the Little Reusable Lunch Napkins

Have you ever fell in love with a fabric line and just had to make something from it? 

When I came across some Sarah Jane at my local fabric store I decided to ignore all the projects on my table and whip out a few little reusable napkins for my daughter's lunch bag.

I find inspiration here and there, but it's not often that I find an artist's entire body of work so delightful. Sarah is an illustrator and textile designer, and her blog lets you glimpse into her world at Sarah Jane Studios.

Her textiles first caught my eye when I was searching for fabrics for my daughter's new room. Isn't her Children at Play line with Michael Miller Fabrics adorable?

But wait, there's more . . .

And she gives the boys equal love -

and . . .

And as if that wasn't enough, a blog I followed featured her shop. That's when I made the connection between the fabric I had admired and the artist. I love her Peter and the Wolf paper dolls, but I'm not ready to let my kids tear them to pieces. Conveniently there are a few sets for free as PDF downloads on her blog that I don't mind my younger kids roughing up a bit.

Discovering her blog and peeking into her world made me love her designs even more. My latest favorites are her inspirational art prints. There is at least one special person in my life who might be getting the little boy version of this print.

Both of the books she has illustrated are available in my local library, and one of them has 58 holds. Remarkable! (Make that 59, I added my own name to the list.)

Okay, enough gushing, onto the project.

I had been meaning to make my daughter some reusable napkins for her lunch; something small and cute that would make her smile and wipe away any afternoon doldrums. When I was at my new favorite fabric store:

I ran across Balloons Aqua from Meadow

and School Gingham from Playhouse

Such lovely and cheery prints just had to be embellished a little further. In her shop, Sarah has a series of prints with sayings that just fit this project - 'be smart', 'be nice', 'be happy', and 'be curious'

In hindsight, I like the blue the best and wished I had used it for the whole batch, but I think all-in-all the spirit of the project will brighten my daughter's afternoons.

This simple little project was really just two 10" squares sewn together. I added the embroidery before cutting out the fabric to avoid distorting the square. Then I sewed right sides together leaving one side open.

From there I hid the knot for the running stitch between the layers -

measured out 1 1/2 inches for the running stitch,

and then top stitched to close the open side.

Voila!

Find more inspiration at one of these great links: