craftgrrl | I'm a newbie- please don't hurt me!

Hi all. I've been watching this comm for a bit and decided to join. I've just discovered the wonders of sewing and thought I might share my first creation.

Sorry about the bad pics: me + webcam caps + shaky hands = blurriness

There she is- the newest bag in my collection. A bag I toiled over for 20 hours, even though it probably doesn't look like I did. The front has a cute Irish Celtic knot patch on it and the lining on the inside has postcard-like pictures of different cities all over the world on it. The fabric's vintage- it's from 1960!! OOH!! :P It's all made out of patches of different denim and the back is made out of a leg of a pair of old jeans; I cut it open and voila! I tossed my lovely *one* school notebook down there, too, just because. But anyay, that is the bag. TA-DA!!

I had to create the pattern myself, which was actually easier than I thought. If anyone would like instructions on how to create it, I could attempt to post them.

My newest projects involve sewing cotton patches onto cotton t-shirts and I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to keep the stretchy cotton from shifting while I was sewing (I sew on a vintage Singer c.1970s, btw). Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Keep up the good work and all. <3