D's Bag

Long time since I posted I'm afraid but I have been busy, converting vans, wedding dress making, kayaking and generally enjoying the summer.

I'm still unable to show you anything of the wedding dress and I'm afraid the van is a very slow project!!  This is really why I haven't been posting, nothing really to show yet!

This post is simply because I needed to say too much to fit on Fiddly Fingers fb page!

I wanted to share these pictures with you as they have both been made by a very dear 87 years young friend of mine and I think she has done a wonderful job.

Each week I go over to see her we have great fun talking about what we have been making and I often take over things I've been working on to show her.  This has inspired her to have a go at things she would not normally have thought of.

Here is what she (D from now on) made recently.

This is D's very own bag pattern. 

She put it together and worked it out as she went along.

D wanted the straps to be long enough to put over your shoulder and during the project she came across this pretty little butterfly she fancied cross stitching.  She sewed it under the flap so it is a nice little surprise when you open up the bag.

The bag was made using dk cotton and a 3.5mm hook.  Here you can see the stitches used, basket weave and bobble stitch as well as double crochet.

We decided the bag would keep it's shape better if it was lined.  I made the lining (as D has no sewing machine now) but am leaving the hand sewing for my friend to complete!!

A particular request was for a zipped pocket inside - now this is only the second one I have ever done and whilst easy enough, it's more time consuming than you think and a degree in maths needed for the measurements!!

I took over a pattern for a little bag which I had used a while ago (you can see the one I made on the left of Chester on my fb cover picture above) ...

I think D liked the idea of the frill on this one, so not content making the first bag just had to have a go at another!!  Once again I did the lining (minus a zip pocket this time) and am leaving it for D to finish off.

I hope you like what D has made, she gets so much pleasure out of trying out things that are new to her and always makes a fantastic job of them.  

She says it keeps her going!

If you would like to leave her a comment, we would both be delighted to hear from you and I'll make sure I pass them on as she doesn't have her own computer.

See you again in the "not too distant future" I hope!

Take care everyone,

Happy crafting!

x

African Flower Square Crochet Bag

Having had a break for a while I'm sort of playing catch up.  I was able to do a little crafting from time to time so am sharing a crochet bag I made for the summer.

I came across this lovely pattern and tutorial for an African Flower Square and immediately fell in love with it.

I'm sure there are lots of uses for this pattern but I decided I would make a bag for the summer.  I began searching for a bag pattern and came across an interesting page showing 'plans' for arranging squares to make granny square bags.

I chose this 13 square pattern and set about making my squares.   I used Sirdar dk cotton, which was very easy to work with.  I just love these colours although the pink, I already had in my stash.

All squares completed and blocked I set about stitching them together as the template above.  I used mattress stitch as this produces neat invisible seams.

Lining this bag presented a few problems as I wanted a bright pink inside but didn't want it to show through the little holes in the squares.  I solved it by double lining, using a cream on the inside and a pink on the outside of the inside - if you see what I mean!

I then needed to work out how to add the handles.  They needed to be long enough to wear over my shoulder and I didn't want them to be stretchy as crochet could be.  I solved this problem by crocheting over window sash cord and am pleased to say having used the bag regularly it has worked really well.

And here is the finished result .....

I've had some really lovely comments on this bag, even my youngest daughter who isn't a crochet fan thought it was pretty!!  Trouble is now, it has been so well used it needs a wash!!

I am looking forward to seeing what has been going on over at Handmade Monday, see you soon :)