June 2013 Blog

JC June 5 2013: Can’t believe it’s almost 2 years to the day that I last blogged. And once again it has been very quiet on this blog. That's what happens when (as friend's across the pond would say) life throws a curved ball.  Priorities change when loved ones are ill. You stop and think what's important in life. You treasure little moments along the way. Now I know for some baking is one way to work through stressful times but for others the mere thought of food and cooking a meal ......well just looses it's appeal. For me, a good cup of coffee, a cake, cookie or some chocolate  + watching re-runs of the Professionals from the 1970's, soothes an anxious heart and mind and gets me ready to face the day ahead. Others would say it is a waste of an hour.  All I know is that I relax.

This blog was a way of seeing cooking 'differences' from either side of the pond. Oh boy did we find a few interesting ones including the different sizes of philo pastry sheets.  So now, with baking having lost some of its appeal is there something else that us Midlanders and Midwesterners are good at. You bet!!!  In fact more than good at times. That is CRAFTING. Knitting; crocheting; and sewing. So here is my first sewing Blog.

Bags!!! Bags and more bags. I'm still searching for the 'perfect' bag. Stylish, practical and room for everything.  This is getting to be an on going challenge with all the new phones and tablets we're told we just must have to survive. It seems that I’m the only one travelling on our local trains whose eyes are not looking down at some digital thingy. Oh I've got one, well two actually, but once on the train I like to look out of the window; at the clouds, trees, sheep even weeds and wild flowers along the train track. So much more relaxing and stress free. Now back to the bag story. As I browsed our local shops (actually pausing for breath as I walked up the hill - but we'll keep that to ourselves) there it was in the window of our local shop which sells curtain fabric and all that's needed to make them and samples if you can afford to have them made for you. It was a lovely duck egg blue/green linen type fabric with white polka dots all over it. Wonderful. Yes a bag indeed was needing to be made. Two weeks later I bought 1/2 metre (that will tell you what side of the pond I am) of the fabric  and a week after that I found some bright green cotton with dark pink roses on for the lining.

 

So, there was much thinking and thinking and planning and internet searching for ideas of bag styles with over the body strap. Then I needed to work out various pockets to put my stuff in including the two digital devices!! This is certainly not the first bag I have made. I can remember three from my late teens; a crochet one in double knit wool in dark brown lined with deep rose pink silky fabric; a square crochet bag in a fine silky white fabric - I still have this one and one made from a pair of trousers (off white brushed cord ) given to me by my Aunt. There were my cousin's and destined for the jumble sale at the children's nursery where I worked back in the day as they say. For various reasons a bag was created, lined with brown tweed fabric left over from a skirt I'd made and topped with a fur collar from a coat purchased at the above jumble sale. The collar was cut to fit the bag over flap. Great.

There were two pages of notes all crossed out when measurements were checked and I though mmmm not big enough. More measuring and I decided on a 12" square with open pockets one side of the bag and a zipped one the other side. Zipped pockets on previous bags had been a bit of a fiddle so I checked on YouTube until I found instructions that I could understand. Or so I thought !!!!! Should have done the inside pocket first!! But thought I knew better.  After all I had been sewing most of my life – Ahhhh but then at age 10 sewing my first project at school .......Yep. I sewed the first shoulder for this simple blouse, then sewed right across the neck and on to the other shoulder!!!!!  And yes I had to undo the neck part.

And I had to undo the bag pocket as I had [thinking I knew best] sewn the pocket lining in with the actual pocket.  It was not until I had sewn in the zip and pushed the fabric through to the wrong side of the bag that I found I did not have a pocket!!!

 

Back to the YouTube instructions.  This time I sewed the zip to the pocket with the interfacing facing up then pushed it through to the wrong side of bag side, THEN put the pocket lining over the pocket fabric and sewed around the edges taking care not to try and get the machine needle through the metal zip!!  And hey presto! My first proper bag pocket. [below]

 

 

 

So this process was repeated for the inside pocket.

 The digital pockets were open [easier].

 

 

Here is the finished bag – with open pockets this side and, I made good use of the remainder of the blue wedding ribbon to line the bag strap/handle.

And the bright lining fabric.

 

 

And the bag again with my flower – a larger version of Lucy’s at Attic 24.  Thank you Lucy.

 

 

I was also busy doing Princess Catherine #2 for 2^nd granddaughter with net curtain for the veil from the same curtain shop as my bag. So May and June were crafting months!!

 

 

Well it is June 5 and this has been my first bag/sewing blog.  Boy, It does take time to do. It’s now a Word Document complete with photos ...... I have no idea if I can upload it like this.  Before I have copied and pasted text into the blog then uploaded photos.  So I will save a blog vs in case it all goes wrong.  Now to find the password to our blog!!!!!

Happy crafting girls!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxx

PS.  Found the password; Photos did not import with text so there had been a lot of fiddling around - so time consuming BUT..... my blog is done.  Got to save and publish [I  think]