I cleared out my fabric stash cupboard this week and found quite a few projects that were started but not finished. Fortunately, not as many as there were at the beginning of the year and not all of them are mine. However, when I tried to give them back to their creators, they were all returned with, ‘oh, you can finish it or make it into something’ Some even denied having anything to do with them. (Could this be next year’s blog?)
This week’s make was a project I started ages ago. I was going to make a matching cushion for some curtains I had made. You can tell how long ago this project was started by the fact that the curtains were put on freecycle last year and are long gone.
I still like the fabric and as I’d already quilted a huge piece of it, I decided to make it into a bag with lots of pockets. It might be useful as a diaper/nappy bag or for lugging around crafting bits and pieces. The piece I’ve started with is a rectangle measuring 92cm x 41cm.
So, I finished the quilting off then added a pocket to the inside. For this I folded a piece of contrasting fabric 25cm x 25cm in half, and sewed it to the inside of the bag along 3 sides. I then made this into 2 pockets by stitching along its height with contrasting thread.
Then I started to make the pockets on the outside. This turned out to be a bit trial and error as I was making up how to do it as I went along.
For a large front pocket, the yellow one below, I used 2 squares of fabric 25cm x 25cm. Sewed them right sides together on 3 sides, turned them right side out and sewed the top closed with contrasting stitching.
Then I made a run of pockets around the bottom of the bag using a strip of the main fabric, 106cm x 40cm. I folded the strip in half lengthwise and placed the open edges along the bottom of the bag. As this strip is slightly wider than the bag, I pinned it in place so that the pockets stuck out a bit like pouches. Hopefully this will mean that it will hold bulky items. At the front, I made a pleat in the strip in the hope that it might lie flat when nothing is in that pocket.
I then sewed the strip to the main part of the bag attaching it at the sides and bottom.
(The pocket didn’t lie flat so I slipped a piece of elastic into the top fold.)
I made the straps by using two strips of fabric folded over some batting and then stitching along the length.
I also used an old duffle coat toggle to the front and crocheted a strip of yarn as a loop fastening.
I was going to add this to the blog as make number 46 but have decided to give it to one of my lovely daughters so will save this make and publish it after Christmas. As it is now Friday, I’m going to have to make something very quickly to get it in for this week.
madebypin 