Adding some embroidery to a double handle tote bag.
I was browsing Etsy (always a bad idea for the bank account) and found a bunch of super cool cross stitch patterns. This galaxy animal paw from OhMyStitchesShop spoke to me. My brother’s partner is graduating as a vet and they own dogs, so I thought this would be fun for her. There are so many stitches in this, I highly underestimated how much time 5552 stitches would take, even in eight different colours.
I started with the big pad and finished it fully apart from the little stars. I did a part of those in white, before I decided that I wanted to use glow in the dark thread for those, to be extra appropriate. So I took the white out and went on to stitch the small pads and then added the glow in the dark.
To make this a useful(ish) gift, I decided on making the embroidery the front pocket of a tote bag. I stitched some white cotton to the back of the embroidery and attached that to the purple fabric that I used for my Edwardian skirt. Since I am short and I know how annoying it is to have bags drag on the floor, I added a double handle. On the inside are short straps, and there are long ones for over the shoulder too. If I ever make myself a tote, I’m totally doing this again.
The project was finished and mailed. I hope she gets some use out of it and I had a lot of fun making it. And have thus since learnt that I prefer my projects either smaller, or coming in bite sized pieces, more on that later!
As mentioned in the Whale Bag post, I also purchased the Penguin – Pinguïn pattern from Waffle Patterns. Since it’s of course imperative to make that penguin bag as soon as possible, I set out to gather my materials. I wanted the bag to look like a real-life penguin, so I bought a white felt-backed curtain fabric for the belly. For the body, I used the same kind of fabric as for the whale, just in black. While the penguin closest in markings might be an Adélie penguin, I didn’t have appropriate orange fabric for the feet, so I chose the whale grey curtain again.
I looked over the instructions and the pattern pieces and decided that I did want to make one major change to the pattern. To increase the size of the inner pocket, I wanted to use all available space to store stuff in. So I measured the body pieces and made an estimation of how big I thought the inside could be. To make the biggest possible pocket, I added circular end sections so that the inside pocket would be shaped like a cylinder. The other addition is to add a zipper to the bottom seam, so I could stuff it after finishing all the sewing.
As usual, the instructions for a Waffle Patterns pattern are very thorough and clearly laid out. In the end, I did almost all the steps but in a very different order. I added some extra d-rings, one to the belly pocket as an embellishment, similar to the snap in one of the original examples. All the way at the end, I undid a little bit of the tail seam to add the other extra d-ring as an attachment point. I had just recalled this pin and this pin and thought I could combine the animal fanny pack and thigh bag thing together.
It all came down to the straps to get those ideas working. So I set out to build the those straps. I wanted two separate ones with side release buckles for easy on-off. A long one that could transform from waist to cross body/over the shoulder strap and a shorter one for thigh or hand strap. I didn’t have enough of the webbing to make the shorter one, so I used the same strap that I used to attach the d-rings for that one.
The long straps comes in two parts, a short part that just has the swivel clip and one side of the side release buckle. The long section has a swivel clip, a slide buckle and the other side release buckle. The length is such that when it’s fully doubled, it fits my waist, but it’s also extendable enough that it fits as cross body. The thigh strap measured to be somewhat too long for my leg, so I could also wear it with wide pants and stuff. I added a snap to the end so that the excess length could be doubled up and snapped away when it was used as a hand strap. I think this will work really well. I can use any of the three top d-rings for whatever configuration of strap I want.
Camouflage thigh strapWaist strap onlyCross body option
I really like this penguin too. I’ve found that I’ve taken the whale bag out a few times the last couple of weeks. It’s really fun and super nice to pet. I hope that will be the same for the penguin. I cut him in such a way that the nap would run down his body, and forward on his beak, so he would be super pettable too.
When I got a notification that one of my favourite pattern companies (Waffle Patterns) had just released two new bag patterns, I couldn’t resist. Off to the sale section of the website I went and before I knew it, I’d hit ‘add to cart’ on novelty bag patterns shaped like a Whale – Walvis and a Penguin – Pinguïn. While no longer on sale, I do think these are particularly adorable.
I’d been looking to make a whale bag for a while, ever since coming across the whale shark bags on Pinterest. I spent a decently long time clicking around the internet at that point to find something I liked, but decided I could probably draft it myself if I really wanted to. But then the pattern was released and that plan was out the window and a new one was quickly formed.
The pattern has 10 pattern pieces, of which three are shapes for stabilizer. There are two rectangles for the different pockets and the main body is really only 5 (doubled) pieces. This meant that I could cut it out from the leftovers of the fabric I used for the curtain cape. Since it’s a curtain fabric, it has some stability of itself and it’s very pettable which I figured would be great for a bag.
Since some whales have baleens, I thought it would be really cool to give him some baleens with the fabric I also used for the reversible dragon egg. This meant that I cut two layers for the body base section. Bottom layer was the curtain for stability and then the soft, fuzzy, white fabric for the overlay. That was sewn down along a few ‘stripes’ and cut to size. This front section also doubles as a pocket and I used the egg fabric for the lining and the pocket piece.
The pattern is great! The markings line up and the instructions are detailed and easy to follow. I made my own life a little harder by doing that overlay for the body base, which meant a lot of layers in one go. I also think it would’ve been better if I had found 12mm tape for the d-loops that hold the strap. It was a bit fiddly now with the wider tape.
Inside the pocketZipper at pocket’s baseThe stuffing inside
I only changed a few things from the pattern; the side pocket is on the wrong side (my bad), the mouth doesn’t have visible topstitching but it is tacked down nearly invisibly, I added some fun extra d-rings on the side as in one of the examples and I put a zipper in the bottom of the large pocket. Since I am unsure if I’ve put enough stuffing in, I wanted to still have it be accessible. This afterthought zipper actually works great, so I can stuff mr. Whale more or less depending on what turns out to be my preference.
If I make one again, I would make a few small tweaks. I’d make the big pocket bigger, put the side pocket on the left side of the whale and put the zipper in the big pocket bottom a lot sooner. I’d also change the shape of the tail, it’s a little pointy now and I think it would look better if it was more filled in. All in all, I do love this little project. It’s absolutely bonkers but I’m sure I’ll find some place to bring my whale!
My previous clothes pin bag was sadly becoming more and more difficult to access with the opening raveling slowly away. Since I do need to keep those pegs somewhere, I set out to make a new bag. I’d pinned and saved the pattern in October of 2021, not specifically for this purpose but because I thought it might come in useful at some point. It’s the Best Nest Organizer Basket by Nancy’s Notions and I followed the YouTube tutorial for it. I did make the front just a little bit higher so it could hold more and added a longer strap.
The fabric was some leftover red linen-y stuff for the outside, thin batting in the middle and for the binding and lining a cotton with skateboarders and rope jumpers. I’d initially intended the cotton to be a shirt, but I wasn’t actually sure I would ever wear it, so I think this is a much better use of it. I mostly followed the instructions although my quilting was probably a lot less dense that they would’ve intended. Reason for that was that the timing on the treadle is enormously off and it’s in repair, so the electric machine was used. That machine’s bed is different, so quilting isn’t as easy. The thread was a contrasting yellow that matched the little skateboarders. It also made me play thread chicken, and I won, twice.
It came together quite easily, although I still thoroughly hate making bias tape. The cutting and measuring and marking and pressing and all that jazz is just not up my street. It does look better with this matching bias tape though, so I’m happy I persevered. I also played bias tape chicken and sort of won. There are some parts of the long strap that don’t have a double layer of bias tape, but there isn’t a soul that’s going to spot that, so I’m more than happy with it. I think this thing is really quite cute and it should perform its job. We’ll see in just about 8 years whether it will have held up as well as the previous one did!
A while ago, when we were still allowed to be in places with lots of people, I went to a giant flea market with friends. Sadly, spoils were little. I only came home with a tropical bird onesie. However, I did spot something that I thought was awesome. A little bag made out of a coconut. Clearly I needed one for myself. However, the one at the market had some holes in, and I didn’t want to pay the price they asked.
(Evil crooked coconut)
Last Sunday, I got my butt in gear and started on my Coconutty bag. I bought a coconut from the supermarket that already had a groove such that it should split nicely. The first one, however, did not split completely down its seam. This bothered me enough that I bought another coconut to try again. That second time, I didn’t take any chances and just sawed the coconut in half. Then I drilled holes along the side to attach a zipper. I sort of prick-stitched the 40-cm zipper in place. The ‘drinking’ hole for the coconut was already punched, so I made a second hole on the opposite side for a strap. Lastly, I made a fabric tube of about 22×40 cm with a zip along the short side. That was to be the lining. The lining was attached to the stitches along the inside of the coconut. And Hey Presto, a bag was born.
Now, it won’t be useful in the slightest, since my phone doesn’t even fit. But the idea of the bag had merit and I wanted to try out my DIY skills with the drill again. For now, I love the contrast of the blue with the coconut and find it awesome that I had some cord in the exact same colour. Hopefully, I’ll be able to test it out soon!
It was Mother’s Day yesterday, for the occasion I made a bag for my mum, I am not in any way shape or form expecting her to actually use it. It was a proof of concept experiment.
My mother has indicated in the past that she has an interest in getting a bag that can be converted from a normal carry bag to a backpack. So I googled, visited internet shopping sites and pinterested for a while and found some interesting things (my board). I tried to make one from fabric but got distracted and it’s still in the corner of shame at the moment. However, after I’d finished another knit project, a grey-shades sweater, I wanted to start something else. I still had some very thick yarn in the hoard that I would not know how to use, so I decided, quick stitches = quick project and cast on 22 stitches on size 7 mm needles for the bottom (the yarn indicated 9-10 mm needles).
Knit the bottom in garter and when it was square, (and my green yarn was finished, no more than 50 cm left) picked up stitches on all sides. Those were put onto 10 mm needles and the stitch count was quickly decreased to 16 on all sides. Worked my way up, eventually decreasing two stitches on the two sides to create a pyramid shape. Switched over to the blue yarn when the green/white ran out.
A zipper was sewn in the top to close the bag and two handles were knitted on. The handles allow one to carry the bag like a shopping bag. Lastly, a long zipper was sewn on as the (backpack)strap. If the zip is closed, you can use it as a messenger bag, if it is open, it is a backpack. Imagine the chair below is a person to visualise the system. The zip is attached at the opposite side of the back, which means that it automatically closes when carried.
So I gave it to my mother yesterday and she thinks it is quite fun in theory, and in practice it may turn out that the holes from the knitting are too large. We will see!
So on Friday I finished two more quick projects. The first was another poppy (e.g. here) since there are people in my distant surroundings multiplying, seemingly voluntary. This one was made from a new flannel sheet. I’m debating making another one for myself (or adopting this one, still deciding).
For the first time I actually measured the distance between stitches for the hat, so this one is, I think, the neatest stitched one.
Project 2 is a bag. Well, it was not a bag, it was a top. Friends of mine gave me a top with a flamingo on it since it was an S. However, the arm holes were so deep that I would be uncomfortable wearing it. I decided to remove the neck binding and cut out the back as deep as the front. I then sewed the bottom together and added some corners. I also folded over the neck and stitched it down with a twin needle. This project has been half-finished for weeks. I just needed to get my act together and actually do the stitching, so luckily I managed to do that!
It is so deep that I couldn’t find anything that would stick out the top – seriously. I tried cutting boards, drinks, shoes? That’s why you get the ugly inside shot. Now on to using this cutie.
I have this wonderful friend, who seems to be the complete opposite of me in some ways. She loves to travel (I hate it), experience new cultures (center to corner of The Netherlands is a culture shock to me), eat local food (leave the guinea pigs to her) and live and work abroad. I still love her to bits and she’s absolutely wonderful to be around. However, she’s been in Peru for the past few years, luckily she comes home for Christmas every year. That’s always the time that we meet up, since I’m not yet over my fear of going to places where guinea pig is an acceptable food stuff. Nicest of all, the first year she came back, I got this present!
It was about a meter of beautifully coloured Peruvian fabric, super bright and striped. Now, I didn’t really see an opportunity for this fabric as a wearable garment in my day-to-day life. However, last week, I realised that it would be perfect for that other thing I had been craving for a while. That was a clothespins bag. Up to now, my clothespins have been hanging out in an ugly green plastic bag. Time for an upgrade I thought.
I’d found the pattern for a retro bag or oval bag via pinterest, original was here. I printed the fabric and found it was much to big to serve my purposes, so I free-handed my own version based on the original. I did pockets on both front and back, because I thought that would be cool. For the contrast I used the same fabric as yesterdays pants, but with added interfacing.
I learned that you should sew curved seams the same direction as it is horribly asymmetric. I will no either start at the top or the bottom, but not go in a continuous curve, as this stretches out the one half while the other half doesn’t stretch. Since this is a bag with a definite use, and it’s not very noticeable, I didn’t try to correct for that after the fact. Also the Peruvian fabric frayed like nobody’s business, so I had more interest in keeping my sanity than getting it perfect.
I added a pipe cleaner along the top edge, since that helps to keep it open. It also provides a nice furry edge, which I thought was an added touch. Last but not least I used the handle from an old discarded sports bag, which means that it is adjustable and very sturdy. All pockets are functional and I took it out on its first assignment today and it did the job better than its plastic counterpart. I’m happy! Now on to find a use for the remainder of my Peruvian goodness.
Last time I posted, I hoped I could post about the red bag being finished. I am very proud of myself for actually doing that. Today I finished the red bag. Now, you might wonder what ‘the red bag’ is. When I decided to start quilting I went to the library to get a book. I came home with two, of which one was “Japanse quiltstyle” (or “Easy Japanese quilt style” – by Julia Davis and Anne Muxworthy (here)). I really liked the bag on the front (here) but I couldn’t find enough different fabrics to make a fun multi-coloured patchwork bag. Then, a light bulb turned on in my head. I could do it in one colour I really liked and do with piping!
I searched my stash for a fabric and located a red linen stuff that I really love the colour of. I always think that red and black go very well together so I found a black pinstripe fabric that had 2 cm apart pinstripes. This meant that I could cut on the lines and they would make nice even piping (if I had sewn straight). I cut out 18 squares of red and 2 of black. Only 9 fit the width of the red stuff and I figured, variety isn’t bad right, so I took two other squares.
I made some paper models to figure out how the bag was put together. They have you make a windmill shape that sort of twists around such that the diagonal of a square forms the top. It was difficult to picture in my head, so I decided to model it. I sewed everything together and added a couple of touches from my own. Here is the finished product.
The tie strings on the side were omitted. I did add a half-lining that was waterproof. I also added some pockets on the inside. One big one on the one side, and 2 smaller ones and 2 pen slots on the other side.
I also added a magnetic button closure to close the bag on the inside, and an overly long (design element) zipper as top closure.
I also added the option of a long strap next to the short straps. If I want to wear the short strap, I can shift the longer strap to the side and then inside. Then I can use the short straps on their own. However, I have found that short straps then to slide from my shoulders, so I like a long strap. This is a (semi-broken) mannequin wearing it.
I hope to actually be able to use it too, to see if it works nicely. I’ll see how that turns out. Now I should continue with the large quilt, since this project is finished!
I was thinking about what to bring with me for this weekend and I remembered that I am using a plastic bag to hold my toiletries when I go and stay with someone. So I found the bit of waterproof fabric I still have in my stash and made the most simple toiletries bag possible. Two lines of stitching to close the sides and a zipper. Done.
It should work though, I’ll find out tonight!
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