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Monday, July 25, 2011

While I Wait For Perfection

I'll make do with average.

I am currently working on a new bag*. A really nice green and black one with yoyos and trim. The key word there is working. The outside is done. I just have to make the lining and then assemble it. However I've come to realize that I have issues attaching outer shells to linings. Somehow that's where it all goes wrong.

So while I dither on that, I made this:


This is what happens when you take an old sweater that's too big and cut it up. I think it was supposed to be red, but now it's more of a really faded pink. Not something I want to carry anywhere I'm trying to impress someone, but perfectly fine for when I want to hit the drugstore.


The top of the bag (originally the bottom of the sweater) folds over and widens the bag out, but I probably will keep it unfolded. Since all that pink was boring I tacked on a flower. (Thanks Nima!)


The inside is this yellow/gold that I quite like. Sadly I didn't have much of it so there's only one pocket. This is a bit of an issue since I carry a lot of smallish junk and I like to put them in pockets and this pocket is too small to hold everything.


As a bonus, I finally learnt how to use the fancy stitches on my machine! Woohoo. I remember reading that it's better to stitch stretchy fabric with a zigzag stitch...


There's no closure, since I couldn't figure out what kind I wanted and was too interested in finishing to put it off. I initially hadn't planned on boxing the corners but once finished the bag really needed it, hence the outside. And yes, the flower and the triangles are attached with white thread. I really wanted to take it out today and couldn't find my red thread. That will be fixed eventually.

While I very cunningly remembered the zigzag stitch for stretchy fabric, I seriously underestimated how much the stuff I carry weighs. The result is that the strap stretched out to a ridiculous degree, hence the knot. There's no way I'm undoing anything, but if anyone has any creative suggestions to shorten the strap that'd be appreciated!

*Technically I think I have 4 bags on the go...

5 comments:

Heather said...

Great job! I think that is really cute and clever.

mdgtjulie said...

It's cute. To shorten the strap, you could fold over the portion at the top you want to get rid of, put a seam there, and lop off the extra. Great work!

Mouse said...

love the bag ... had a think last night and apart from folding said strap over at each side and stitch back onto the bag to strengthen and make a wee feature of the strap (put more flowers ?) there isn't much else you can do other than undo and shorten strap and re sew back up ... hope that helps and you can follow it ..lol love mouse xxxx

Topcho said...

How awesome is this bag! Love everything about it! absolutely great idea to recycle an old sweater. Love the colour.. and this knotted strap is cool too!

Karoline said...

Great bag, congratulations