Showing posts with label bag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bag. Show all posts

Friday, 24 February 2012

Two pink bags

I haven't done any sewing since Christmas, and I've missed it.  Over a couple of evenings this week I sewed two bags.  What I had forgotten was how quick sewing is compared to knitting, and how deeply satisfying it is to create something from nothing and end up with an item which solves a problem.  Both these bags were made to solve problems.

O's old ballet bag was looking a little childish suddenly, and it was awkward for her to carry into class because it had a drawstring rather than handles. 

She really wanted a stylish tote bag like everyone else has.  I was very happy to make her one and asked her to pick out fabrics.  Despite declaring that she isn't into pink at all any more, she chose two eyewateringly bright pink fabrics for the bag.  I think she likes to keep me on my toes. 

Livvy's new ballet bag
O's new ballet bag - extra pink

I whipped up this tote bag for her in an evening, and she loves it.  At ballet this week she sauntered off into class with her new bag slung over her shoulder, looking very pleased with herself.  All the other 9 year olds in her class were exclaiming over the deliciousness of the cherry, polka dot and gingham fabrics, which pleased her even more.  She can be sure that no one else will ever have a ballet bag quite like this one.

Inside the ballet bag - all stuffed in any old how
O's new ballet bag - everything still gets stuffed inside any old how

The second bag was made for a friend's 12 year old daughter.  S didn't want her small bedroom cramped with a big washing basket, so her mum asked me to make her a drawstring laundry bag which could hang on the back of her door instead.  S picked out the fabric for her laundry bag, and also chose pink - but in much more muted colours than my 9 year old.  Like me, S's mum also thought her daughter didn't like anything pink, but was proved wrong.  I think maybe all girls like to keep their mums on their toes.

Embroidering a label
Embroidering a label

Laundry bag label
Laundry bag label

I embroidered a label for the bag, and was delighted to find a little steam iron image amongst my vast collection of embroidery transfers from Sublime Stitching.  I really love this bag, and the fabric S chose.  I think it would be a nice idea to have one of these myself to pack into my suitcase when I go away, and keep dirty washing separate from clean clothes.

Sarah's laundry bag
S's laundry bag - to hang behind her bedroom door

I hope S likes it as much as I do - I have a feeling she will.  I know her mum will just be delighted to get those dirty clothes off the floor and tidied away.  What is it with girls and discarded clothes?

O's bedroom this morning
O's bedroom this morning - with discarded bath towel, pyjamas and tops flung around.

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

A baby's cosy red bag

Another reason that I loved the Handball at the weekend, was that it provided me with four uninterrupted hours of knitting.  Despite very strict security procedures I successfully smuggled in my knitting (wooden needles don't get picked up by metal scanners, and dpns look just like pencils on the x-ray machines...), and I managed to finish off all but the last centimetre of this red baby kicking bag, while I was cheering on the Angolan team.

Miss Bourke's cosy red kicking bag

This one is destined for my sister's new baby - a little girl - who is due early in 2012.  She will be a winter baby and will surely appreciate a little sleeping bag to snuggle up in.

I've knitted this pattern twice before.  Here are two of my nephews modelling theirs.

Ben, just a couple of days old, snuggled up in his kicking bag

Leo modelling his kicking bag


Aren't they snuggly?  This is such a great pattern - simple to knit, and practical to receive.  It is a free pattern - you can download the details and see other people's versions of it here.

I do so love finishing knitting projects.  Mainly because it gives me license to start something new.  I have a second sock to finish for C before Christmas, but I think I should also have something else on the needles too.

Maybe some baby mittens to match this kicking bag?  Maybe a new shawl for me?  Maybe some armwarmers for O?  Maybe all three!

Wednesday, 8 June 2011

A simple bag

Very often the simplest things are the nicest.

Simple denim bag

This is a denim tote bag with boxed corners, sewn last night using instructions from Bend-The-Rules SewingI made it for O to give to a friend for her birthday this weekend.  Who doesn't love a bit of denim and red polka dot?

Suffolk puffs on a denim bag

Simple pleasures.

Monday, 14 February 2011

I do like a nice plastic wallet

Since I finished the quilt last week I'm back on the knitting again, and remembering all the knitterly things that I love:
  • slim dpns - they make me feel very clever and dextrous
  • yarn - so tactile and squishy
  • Ravelry - I can waste entire evenings rummaging around its pattern library
  • portability - I tuck my knitting into my satchel and sneak in a couple of rows when I am on the tube, sitting in the playground or waiting at ballet.
This last point has been helped considerably by the purchase of one of these plastic zip-up wallets from Muji.


I have the A4 size, which is big enough to hold one or two small projects on dpns, some photocopied patterns, my tape measure and a little pair of scissors.  When it is zipped shut, I can tuck the wallet into my satchel and it is ready for whenever I have a spare 5 minutes.

I love the ghostliness of the wallet when it is shut

The wallet in my satchel - no more pulling out my umbrella and having a whole ball of precious Debbie Bliss cashmerino come too

I'm knitting things for the children.  When I asked O what she'd like she declared legwarmers would be just the thing.  I am knitting her a pair of these Easy Peasy Leg Warmers (pattern from The Witty Knitter blog).  The pattern is for a 10 to 12 year old girl, and uses thick worsted weight yarn.  So I am knitting it in much finer Debbie Bliss cashmerino to get a better fit on those skinny 8 year old legs my girl has.  It is a super easy pattern - and coming together gratifyingly quickly.  You can see more details on my Ravelry page for them here.


C wanted socks.  He is a (young) man after my own heart and likes nothing better than handknit socks.  I quite agree with him that they are one of the nicest things that can be knit.  For these I'm using the reliable, free, Kaffe Fassett sock knitting pattern that I picked up in John Lewis years ago. They yarn I am using is also by Regia - a deliciously bright primary coloured one called World Circus.  Again you can find more details on Ravelry.


I think I may be a little odd in being so motivated to knit because I have a nice plastic wallet to keep everything in...but perhaps not.  Muji must be onto something - everything in that shop just makes me feel like a small child again, wanting to spend ALL my pocket money on rubbers, glue, notebooks, pencils, folders, storage tins and felt-tips.  That small child is still in most of us I think judging by the crowds of middle aged people sighing over the plastic wallets and hex pens every time I go into the shop - just like me.

Thursday, 6 January 2011

Splash of colour - January

I always think of January as a clean, white month.  I love the sense of a new start and empty pages in a fresh diary...everything plain, simple and clutter-free after the green, red and gold excesses of Christmas. 

I wasn't sure how much colour I would find when I went looking for it for Silverpebble's Splash of Colour project yesterday, but it is here.  The house may be refreshingly free of decorations and holiday clutter, but there is still plenty of colour too.


My beautiful new green satchel, a Christmas present from G.  Other delicious, vibrant shades, sizes and styles can be found on the Cambridge Satchel Company website.


Strawberry and vanilla buns in bright, cheery, red paper cases, waiting for their icing.


Another Christmas present - this magnificent book.  I picked up some good, bright shades of cashmerino and organic wool yarn in the John Lewis sale, and have started by making the sprig of lavender you can see lying on the book in the picture above. 

I am a little obsessed by lavender at the moment.  When I finally made it to Oxford over Christmas, Mum gave me some of the lavender she harvested from her garden in France last year, and which she dried out over the autumn.  She had so much of it that we lost perspective somewhat.  She gave me three carrier bags full of dried stalks, which when I got it back home to London, suddenly seemed like an enormous quantity.  I stripped the stalks from just one of the three bags and have ended up with a huge bowl of lavender - so full that I can submerge my hands in it up to my wrists.  The resulting smell of lavender throughout the whole house is astonishing.  This may be adding to the general, and very welcome, sense of January calm and simplicity which is enfolding us all at the moment.

Thursday, 14 October 2010

A ballet bag for Bella

One of the nicest things that happened this week was being asked to make a ballet bag for a friend's little girl. 


Bella is four, loves her ballet lessons and all things girlie and pink.  The old plastic carrier bag she was carrying her tutu around in just didn't cut it any more, so her Mum asked me if I would make her a ballet bag.  It had to be roomy enough for her tutu and also girlie enough to satisfy Bella's style requirements.  What an excellent brief!

I rummaged through my piles of fabric, and came across a piece of this wonderful Alexander Henry apples and pears fabric that was just big enough.  I have used it in so many projects over the past few years that I can't remember them all.  I was amazed to find this last piece lurking at the back of a shelf, just big enough for bag making.


I made a large tote bag, and boxed the corners to make a wide, flat base.  I embroidered Bella's name on one side of the bag and sewed some suffolk puffs on the other side.



I made straps long enough for Bella or her Mum to sling the bag over a shoulder, and lined it with the last remnant of the thick white sheeting I acquired from my Grandmother and used here and here.


Then I really wanted to add a pocket too, because I know from years of O's ballet lessons that there are so many little extras required for ballet that would get lost at the bottom of a big bag - the hairpins, hairbands, little pink socks, a hairbrush and so much more.  I didn't have quite enough of the apples and pears fabric left, so I made a pocket out of this green Tanya Whelan fabric instead.  I love the way it contrasts so well with the white lining, and picks up the green in the apples and pears.

Cutting up the green pocket fabric made me think what an excellent fabric it would make for an apron, so today I made the rest of it into another reversible apron for the shop.


And it looked exactly as I had imagined it would - always so gratifying!  The reverse side is made from a vintage French cotton that I bought this summer in France.


Then, because I was on a roll I made another apron for the shop - this time in pastel pinks and oranges, on one side using some more French vintage fabric bought this summer, and on the other side a really lovely, bold print from Ikea.



And now I have to stop sewing for other people and turn my attentions closer to home. Next week both the children have their birthdays and C has asked me to make him a cushion.  Here is the one I made for O's birthday this time last year.  C wants a Swiss themed one, and happily I did go mad in two fabric shops in Interlaken and Brienz when we were on holiday so I think I may have just the right sort of fabrics...watch out though, there may be edelweiss and fondue sets involved!