Sunday 8 July 2012

A Very Very Big Bag

I've been trying to limit the knitting, and do a bit of sewing. As well as my pile of wool, I also have an enormous stash of material, which really needs to be made into something.

My sister gave me (at my request) this book of bag patterns:



At the back is a wallet containing all the patterns. So I thought I would have a first go with what looked like one of the simpler bags: the Reversible Shopper. 

And here is the final product.


The material was a lovely Liberty print, which I bought years ago thinking I might make cushions from it.  I would say that the hardest part seemed to be the cutting out - being reversible there really were a lot of pieces, and they all needed interfacing. I have a little stock of interfacing, but that all got very quickly used up, and I had to go and buy some more. After this the actual sewing of the bag was a bit of breeze.  I did make the mistake of putting both my pockets on the outside, when in fact one is made to be on the inside, so the bag is truly reversible. 

My only problem is I'm not quite sure what to do with my bag now. It really seems too nice to use as a grocery shopping bag. 

I had envisaged keeping my current knitting projects in it. At the moment I keep my knitting in a rather scruffy paper bag. But as all my projects are quite small I think they would be a bit lost in this big bag. It is really really big.

I may have a go making a scaled down version of this for a knitting bag. I am toying with the idea of keeping my stash of wool in it, but at present I have my wool in shallow baskets, which I really like, as it is really easy to find a particular ball without rummaging and unwinding them ...... 

But I guess you could keep anything (or anyone) in a really big bag like this.


I may post some more of my attempts to make bags  .... 

Also "hi" to everyone at Handmade Harbour's Handmade Monday. Have to say you are one of the friendliest link groups I have come across.

15 comments:

  1. Love your bag, the fabric is really great colours.
    Catherine x

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  2. He looks right at home sitting in your bag....I think he has claimed it for his own!!
    Great bag, don;t be afraid to use it as a shopping bag you will look very posh.

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  3. Great result with the bag... I always find that it is like getting a new notebook... bestest writing at first and then after a few days you will fill it with anything. The fabric is delicious :)

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  4. I love the bag - why not use it for your groceries? Wouldn't it make a very mundane task more pleasurable? I agree baskets are more practical for storing wool.

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  5. That book looks brilliant and I love Amy Butler fabrics so I think I may need to invest. Does the cat come with the book?! X

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  6. I think that you've lost that bag!! So cute. You must use it as a shopping bag, I'm sure you'll get lots of lovely comments about it, and maybe people will want you to make one for them. x

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  7. Talk about 'not letting the cat out of the bag'...!

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  8. I love the cat in the bag pic! The bag itself looks lovely too!

    So nice to hear we're high up on the friendliness factor in linky groups! x

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  9. ha! looks like you have invented a pretty cosy cat carrier :)

    It is a lovely bag and i'm sure it will come in very useful for lots of things. I could imagine using something like this to go to the beach or for a picnic when you want to be able to take a blanket to sit on as well as some sustenance! x

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  10. I've heard of the the cat in the hat but not the cat in the bag. It looks really sweet. I agree with free spirit beach and picnic would be lovely. Although I would also take it to the supermarket also. Have a crafty week. Ali x

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  11. Beautiful bag, I love the fabric too! I could hide loads of wips in there but then I often have a couple or more things on the go at one, what about making some bags for small project knitters though? That could well be an untapped market. I stuff my mini projects in my handbag and the yarn tangles round keys, pens and anythingelse it can find, but if it was in a mini knitting bag, it would behave :-)

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  12. It's a great bag and your cat looks right at home in it.I don't think you're getting it back!

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  13. It's a lovely bag - I'm glad someone's found a use for it :)

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  14. It is a great bag for shopping, it's very swish and it's nice to have a bit of swish while choosing the groceries.

    Jan x

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  15. Love the bag, and great use of your stash of fabric. Your cat looks so sweet inside!look forward to seeing more bags from your book

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