Project Bags

When I was at Green Planet Yarn back in June, I came home with this cute little shopping bag.

They had a selection of fabrics and I picked the these cats because I was in the midst of Carla Sonheim‘s Cats! class. I used the shopping bag as my project bag. It really is a perfect size. It is just the right size for a small project and project notes without fear of everything tumbling out if you aren’t careful.

I took some measurements. I may have even bought some fabric. But then nothing.

I didn’t do anything with it for months.

Then this weekend happened. I started a new small portable knitting project but didn’t have an empty project bag handy. Instead of looking in the stash for empty project bags that I know I have around, I dug out some stashed fabric and got to work.

A few hours later, I had these 2 new project bags to play with. My new knitting project is already in the bicycle themed bag because I’m knitting a head/neck warmer to wear for my bike commute. Now, I have 2 cat themed project bags. And yes, they both are already adorned with cat hair.

Why a couple of hours? This was the first time I made these and I was measuring and planning as I went. Next go around will definitely be faster (if I can find my notes or decipher them). I also made this batch with French seams because I was too lazy to pull the overlock machine out but I also didn’t want raw edges. Besides, the overlock would seem counter intuitive since I was using my old school Singer Featherweight. The Featherweight doesn’t do zigzag so I was stuck. But overlock would definitely have made this much faster.

Lastly, I used the sew the box corner technique (#3). It was a little finicky with the French seams and the small size. I think I would go with cut the corner method next time (#2 of the same link above).

General Notes:

• 2 – 14″ x 14″ squares : I cut them separately instead of in a single long vertical strip (14″ x 28″) because my fabric pattern had up/down direction. I could have cut a long horizontal strip (28″ x 14″) but that would require buying a full yard of fabric. If you are making them in bulk for gifts, that is definitely an option.
• 2 – 14″ x 2″ strips : If I were to do this again, I would cut 3″ strips. Press the 2 edges toward the center, then fold again. Press.
• 1″ fold over edge at the top of the bag (with additional 1/4″ fold under so there are no raw edges).

Oh, and part of the time was spent cleaning and troubleshooting my Featherweight. When I pulled it out the other day to do a “quick” project, it was skipping stitches. I didn’t want to take the time to figure out what was wrong so I switched to my Bernina*. (The Needle was inserted incorrectly after I replaced it last time.)

* Does’t everyone have more than one sewing machine? I assume if you are here, you have more than one spinning wheel or loom (or more than one of both). Sewing machines are in the same category. So stop judging.