The mother of invention...

...Or rather the mother {me} of the inventor {that would be him}.  Can you spot the invention?

 Meet the "Wocket"...a handy, dandy, upcycled pet care product—the perfect accessory for walks with man's best friend. 

A bag that attaches to Fido's leash—just the thing for carrying doggie biscuits, poop bags, keys and a little mad money—unencumbered dog walking at last!
This little gem was created for a school project—the invention convention—and it is my guy's first ever sewing machine project.  He did a great job {if I do say so myself}, and he loved using the machine.  It makes a mama proud.
When we started brainstorming for this project, the inventor informed me that he "did not want to do a project that involved sewing" because they "have been doing sewing in art..." and he "doesn't like sewing"...Nooooo!...Say it isn't so!...How did this happen?  Well anyway, I'm sure you can imagine how that comment wrangled my heart and rang in my ears.  Doesn't like sewing indeed, well we'll just see about that!...
"What if I let you use the sewing machine?" she says nonchanlantly.
A glimmer in the boy's eyes..."Really?" 
Oh yes, now I've got him!...Enter the rag bag and an old pair of jeans.  We looked at them and planned...snip, snip, snip..."we should use the pocket," he says...a pin here, a pin there and it's off to the sewing machine.  As my guy sewed the bottom and side seams together {so carefully and with such concentration} we talked about the straps and closure of the bag, and how to attach the wocket to the leash...it must be easy to get into, but not too gappy, and it must be secure on the leash, but removable.  He decided we really needed a button or snap.  Back to the jeans to decide what part of them we could use.  The two ends of the waist band were perfect for this.  Two quick seams later and voila!...

We stuffed it with a couple of  bags and some treats and took it for a spin around the block...

Big smiles all around...A very useful invention, and an altogether satisfying opportunity for my guy to design and make something of his very own...and a chance for me to watch him discover that he really likes doing something that he thought he didn't, something that I love.  He's already planning a pair of summer pj pants—can he know how happy this makes me?...shhhh, don't tell...

xoxo~
alison