Show-and-tell Tuesday: Dance bag

When I signed up for adult beginner’s tap-dancing class early last September, I did so with four motivations in mind:

-- I wanted to do something quirky and unexpected as my 50th birthday approached
-- I wanted a fun new form of exercise
-- It involved shoe-shopping
-- It offered a chance to sew a fun new bag to tote said shoes to class

Nearly eight months later, the class has filled all my expectations, and then some. And here is the bag. This photo is awfully dark, but you can click on it to enlarge for a better look if you want. Don’t you love the funny vintage shoe print? I found it at a Hobby Lobby in Cincinnati last summer when I was shopping there with my sisters.

The bag is actually a backpack, so it’s easy to sling it on as I walk to the local arts center every Monday evening for an hour of rigorous shuffle-ball-changing and fa-lap, fa-lap, fa-lapping. Next time I make this pattern, though, I’ll make the straps a little sturdier – they’re just extended fabric drawstrings, and are a bit on the wimpy side for actual shoulder straps. Still, quite functional for now.

Oh, and in case you wondered, all the beginner’s classes at the arts center will indeed present a recital next month, with our year’s worth of learning on full display. Our adult tap class goes on right after a bunch of five-year-old ballerinas, I think. We tend to lumber about like so many menopausal elephants, but we do have a great time. And the song we’ll be tapping to? The rockin’ Beatles classic, “You Say It’s Your Birthday.” Which is appropriate, since we have much more experience at birthdays than anyone else in the show.

Be sure and enjoy Show-and-Tell Tuesday with Pieces and Veronica (speaking of birthdays!!) as well.