FO: Grab Bag
Bet you’d forgotten I could sew! So did I, actually. This is the first time in over a year that I’ve used my sewing machine – not a bad item to start with!
With me for scale
Internal view – lots of room!
The outer fabric is a ginko leaf print cotton and the lining is a pre-quilted fabric (cotton on both sides and with polyester wadding).
The pattern is by allpeoplequilt.com and I found it via this blog (direct PDF link to the pattern here).
The pattern is well written and the illustrations are good. I found some instructions superfluous (such as the machine basting) but I just ignored those and did my own thing.
I may be back on the proverbial bicycle – watch out!
Surprise!
I’m on holiday now; assuming that this publishes at 10am BST on the 2nd of April, otherwise – Surprise! I’m home!
This is my route:
A close up on the mileage?
Except it will be further than that because I have to go South to go North.
I’ve estimated it will take me between eight and ten hours to get up to Fort William. Wow. I have knitting, podcasts and an antiquated device called a CD Player. Wish me luck!
I managed some last-minute sewing of an eye mask:
All hand sewn. I’ve very proud of myself!
And finally…
Would you like to see my travelling companion?
I realised that I couldn’t be in the photos if I was taking them, so Theo T. Bear (the T. stands for “The”) will be my stand-in! He’s already taken part in the Little Visitor Swap over at Craftster, so he’s well travelled. He’s actually been further from home than me!
Oh, and good news on my mum’s presents – they arrived the next day and they were promptly wrapped and gifted. She was particularly pleased with the garden twine (I’m not kidding).
If you post a comment and it doesn’t show up, it’s probably been mistaken for spam. I’ll catch it when I get back.
So, see you in 5 days…
Springy nature bag
Name: Springy Nature Shoulder bag
Pattern: From “Zig Zag Magazine” volume 14, by Burda, view C.
Fabric: A printed cotton upholstery fabric with loose weave.
Fabric source: Dunelm Mill shop
Recipient: Me!
Modifications: Added a zip pocket at the front, a patch pocket inside and omitted the lining.
I made the base from a double layer (one of which was interfaced with a heavy weight fusible interface) and bound the raw edges with yellow satin bias binding.
Notes: I made this specifically for my Scotland holiday, but I can see myself getting a lot of use out of this bag.
It goes over my shoulder, lies across my body and sits nicely on my hip.
It has a decent capacity to it and should prove very handy as a small shopping bag or perfect for shoving stuff in for car/train/coach journeys.
I’ve very happy with the way the bag turned out, but I’m slightly disappointed with the application of the bias binding around the base of the bag (see image below) and the zip insertion was a bit tricky.
The width of the bag is about 50 cm (18″ or so) wide with a similar height.
The bias binding join:
The main zip detail:
L to R: Inner patch pocket, Zip pocket detail (with glasses for scale!), the inside of the bag showing the base, the wrong side of the front zip pocket.
The coolest pattern in the world?
But seriously, it shouldn’t have a question mark at the end of it. It should be a statement. Heere be Dragone is the coolest pattern in the world.
And I am now the very proud owner of a PDF copy. It’s all Claudia’s fault. You can get your very own copy on Etsy, direct from the designer herself. The reply email you get is worth the money alone!
I have the perfect green yarn for it (the same as I’m using for the Mystery/Moss Shawl) and this will make the Welsh bits of me very happy indeed. It will also make the sci-fi/fantasy bits of me equally happy! 
The coolest shoes in the world?
I know that some people think they are the ugliest shoes in the world, but I love them.
I am Crocs, hear me roar! 
I got them from an online shop called FitFeetUK. Talk about great customer service! My original choice (purple) wasn’t in stock, so they called me a couple of hours after I’d placed the order to talk and we decided that Fuchsia was the next best. I ordered on Thursday and got the shoes on Saturday.
March Madness news:
My typically unreliable health has decided to say “Hello” so progress has ground to very slow crawl. This means that I’m only up to the start of the leg patterning now.
Here’s the garter stitch heel in progress:
It really is, visually, the ugliest heel in the world, but it feels really nice to wear.
I’ve also finished some sewing for a Craftster swap. The person I sent to has either got them by now, or she’s on holiday in Costa Rica so either way I’m safe to post.
I’m really proud of this little lot. They are all fairly simple in style but I think i pulled it off. I also included some tourist information for the local area. For more, close-up views, visit my Flickr page and see all the photos marked “travel”.
Unfortunately, my swap partner had a total date-flake and forgot about me 
However, I have a swap angel
