Teensy towels and little wet boxers

We started swimming lessons this week. All three of us- me, my 4 year old, and my 17 month old-- in the pool at the same time. Super fun! But I was not so prepared this morning. First of all, I forgot to bring towels, so we had no choice but to use the towels provided by the gym. They were woefully small, maybe 11% bigger than a hand towel. Just about full size for the baby (who I will admit looked heartbreakingly cute standing there naked wrapped in the little towel). Much better suited for wiping sweat than drying off after a swim. Anyhow, I need to remember to bring REAL towels tomorrow. Secondly, I failed to remember that I would be needing to bring wet swimwear home with us. All I brought was my sad old backpack, and it was pretty wet by the time we got home, not to mention my wallet and the bag of pretzels leftover from last week's zoo trip. Ugh. So this afternoon I got out the yard of "oilcloth" that I've had sitting in my closet for over two years and made a quick tote bag.

I serged the bottom and side seams, as well as the top opening. When I went to sew the top hem, I found that my sewing machine did NOT like this fabric (and I use the term "fabric" loosely). So I gave up after it pulled that whole unthread the needle trick, and I just folded the top over and applied four sets of snaps! This is perfect, since it keeps the wide top closed, was fun to do, and allowed me to use my spendy snap press again. I even snapped the handle webbing to avoid having to sew it in. Clever, eh? Or lazy...whatever.

I think this will keep our stuff nicely contained tomorrow. No more gym towels!