Then I remembered an FO I didn't share with you, from February! It was my "handmade" gift as part of the Blog Hub Swap. Paula, the recipient, already shared the project as part of her blogging about the swap, but I never did.
For the swap I knew that I wanted to sew something for Paula, as it is not a craft she pursues. I also had a clue about a fabric she liked, because she posted a favourable comment on my blog about a felted bag I made for my new niece. She liked the lining fabric and that gave me a starting point. It helped that I also had in my stash a nice strong fabric that would compliment the sweet fabric that I had selected for the project.
I decided to make a project bag from these fabrics. Every knitter and crocheter I know always needs project bags. We can never have enough! I decided to put a zipped pocket into the bag as well, for things like stitch markers or cable needles, or basically any little thing that is useful to that project. I also decided to put the pocket on the outside of the bag to make it easier to gain access. As usual I followed the tutorial from U-Handbag to insert the pocket, though I now know the method off by heart!
I used firm fusible interface on the outer part of the bag, in order to give the bag enough structure to stand upright. The structure enables it to be easily placed on the floor with the yarn inside while knitting. The structure was a very simple one and at some point I will make one of these for myself, and possibly take photos and make notes while I do it. It is actually pretty easy if you don't add the pocket.
As you can see, I used ribbon for the drawstring. I had it in my stash and it seemed perfect for this bag.
Making the bag "boxy", at the bottom corners, adds to the stability and enables it to stand up right.
As usual, with a sewing project, I added my little "handmade by..." label. I really do think this lining fabric is charming. I wish I had bought more of it, as I think it would make a lovely set of a pyjamas! I love that the sweet lining is hidden away inside the strong purple outer. It's like a little secret bit of girliness.
Paula seemed very pleased with her handmade gift, and the added bonus of some stitch markers I made for her which were tucked into the zipped pocket!
I picked up the beads at John Lewis and thought they went perfectly with the bag. I love this particular design and it is my favourite out of all the styles I have tried. I'm hoping that they will be useful, but I'm guessing it's just like the project bag, all knitters always need more stitch markers, no matter how many they have. They just seem to disappear down the back of sofas, or into big bags!
So here is the last of my FOs from the past. I better get a move on for next week and finish up one of my mammoth projects, so that I have something to show you! To look at other projects, that are probably more recent than mine, click on a button!
