A New Bag

I have had great fun with the sewing machine this week. A few little fishes, a few drawstring bags and then this. It all started with a little piece of patched fabric - just a few rectangles sewn together and the thought of "what will this become?"

I added two strips of osnaburg either side and then some more fabric top and bottom. At this point I was thinking of a tote. I then hand-stitched the three rows of running stitch using Perle cotton and found the the three buttons. It needed to be a bit wider if I wanted to use box corners at the bottom so I added two more fabric strips at the sides and at this point thought I would experiment with a different back.

For the back I used osnaburg with a layer of flannelette and added satin stitched ovals with two different coloured threads - the idea from this came via the book "Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts".

At this point I joined the front and back together. I added a backing of flannelette to the front as well. I added box corners on the outside instead of hiding them on the inside of the bag. I had tried this on a bag before Christmas and like to look of it. The lining was a piece of light weight cotton.

What kind of handles was the next step along with a closing of some sort. In the end I went with a drawstring top that was the same as the one I tried here. The last idea was for it to have a long strap so that I could use it messenger style - I like this style as it is hands free. As always I made the strap too long and had to shorten it by folding the strap on itself for a little bit and adding another button. I added some more patchwork to the strap but should also have interfaced it - it is a bit soft.

The end result is OK but the drawstring doesn't work very well hence the addition of some beads that can slide along and help keep it closed. I have been using it for the last couple of days and I think I will like it. I have a zipper pouch and smaller drawstring bag inside it to keep things organised. Avid Crafter likes the fabric I created for the back of the bag.

I think it is now time to get stuck in and finish the crochet food and then move on to working on some of the kits that are just waiting to be finished.

Happy crafting.