Breast Cancer Awareness with ByAnnie – In Control Caddy

I’m excited to participate in #SewPink lead by the wonderful Annie of ByAnnie patterns.  This is such a wonderful blog hop of dedicated sewers who are making it a priority to help spread the word about all cancer detection actually.  The #SewPink Initiative’s mission is to raise awareness for cancer throughout the year.  Efforts culminate in an annual blog hop during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month to promote self-care, awareness, early detection and support for those affected by breast cancer. I think we can all agree that this is a wonderful cause.  And as luck would have it, I have my annual mammogram scheduled for tomorrow!  I didn’t even put the two together until I was typing up this post.

I have been lucky enough to not personally have experienced cancer as of yet, though I don’t think any of us make it through life without being deeply affected by those around us who are.  I do however have a lovely chronic illness/disease/whatever my body is a lemon disorder called Ehler’s Danlos Syndrome.  Don’t even try pronouncing it…it’s two German doctors last names I believe.  lol. We all just call it EDS.  Three little letters that mean something to me but most people don’t know.  I’ll spare you all the details, but suffice it to say that pain is an everyday part of my life.  So I knew immediately that I wanted to make a pattern of Annie’s that would truly help me.

Enter the In Control Caddy.

            

First off, let’s just talk about how freaking adorable this caddy is.  It’s super well designed and structural of course because it’s Annie’s pattern.  But it is also just a darling piece that is now part of my everyday life that I adore.

In the spirit of Breast Cancer Awareness, I chose my fabrics with hearts and pink and healthy strawberries.  There is texture, dots, hardware, and just general happiness.   And I really appreciate how practical this caddy is.   It is small enough to sit nicely on a side table, about 6.5″ x 10.5″ I believe.  But it is packed with pockets, dividers, and multiple handles.  I have already figured out that it stores my Ipad, my kindle, my phone and headphones along with a bottle of water with no problem.  I’m excited to use this as my constant transport of these items between my bedroom on the second floor and my sewing room and living room on the first floor.  It truly already makes me feel more in control.  And when dealing with chronic illness of any kind, we all know that control is something that is missing.

  * here it is all packed up with everything you would need to recover from a cold.  There is still so much room in there!

My favorite detail is probably this little mesh pocket I added (instead of having a zipper pocket) and the matching Renaissance Ribbon trim that I used as an accent to the Ruby Star Society Heart Fabric.  It truly is the small details that make projects like this worth custom making.  Hearts are happy!

I love this new addition to my life and how it is helping keep me organized.  Thanks for stopping by to my corner of the Internet and checking out this lovely piece.  I wouldn’t say it is for beginners but slow and steady wins the race with this one.  I think that is my motto in life. 😉