I made a knitting/project bag with matching key fob and pouch for my step-mother for this upcoming Mother's Day. I said I would share with you how I made it.
If you have basic sewing knowledge this bag should be pretty easy to make.
(PLEASE NOTE I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL PATTERN MAKER AND FOLLOWING ARE JUST BASIC INSTRUCTIONS THIS IS MAINLY TO GIVE YOU THE MEASUREMENTS OF ALL PIECES NEEDED)
The material I used was: 1 metre or yard of outer fabric (I used "Wound Up, by Cloud 9 Fabrics) 13 " by width of fabric for lining (I just used a left over piece from another project). 40 " by 3 1/2 inches wide Pellon SF 101 interfacing (a light interfacing is all that's needed) Medium to Heavy Weight fusible fleece, for example Heat and Bond A pair of magnetic snaps 12 inches elastic thread (seam allowance 1/4 inch unless otherwise noted) This is what you need to cut out: Main Fabric (exterior of bag): 2 x 13 inches by 13 inches for front and back of bag 3 x 5 inches wide by 13 inches for sides and bottom of bag 2 x 4 inches by 20 inches for straps 4 x 7 inches wide by 8 inches high for side pockets 2 x 13 inches wide by 10 inches high for inside pocket Lining fabric (interior of bag): 2 x 13 inches by 13 inches for front and back of bag 3 x 5 inches wide by 13 inches for sides and bottom of bag Fusible Fleece (ALL THIS TO BE FUSED ONTO EXTERIOR FABRIC): 2 x 13 inches by 13 inches for front and back of bag 3 x 5 inches wide by 13 inches for sides and bottom of bag
1 x 13 inches by 10 inches for inside pocket
Pellon SF 101:
2 x 4 inches by 20 inches for straps, (FUSE ONTO STRAPS).
Cut out fabric following instructions above and fuse interfacing where necessary. Notice how I pinned pieces of paper to each section so I knew what was what.
This was all the elastic I had on hand so I used that, you can use whatever width up to around 1/2 inch.
To make the straps, fuse on interfacing. Fold over fabric and iron, so you have a centre line. Open up and match edges to the centre line, iron again.
Then fold over so the outer edges are in the centre, then sew down the edges to secure.
Take the two inner pocket pieces, one which has the fusible fleece on it. Sew right sides together, turn rights sides out, press seam open, then iron. Top stitch (1/8"). Place on interior lining piece, so bottom of pocket and lining are matching (as in photo). Sew a seam down the middle of the pocket, so now you will have two pockets when the sides and bottom are sewn up. You will do this later.
The side pocket pieces. Sew two together, press the seam open. Take a piece of elastic and pop it under the seam like in the photo. Fold the top piece of the fabric over and baste the side of the elastic on the side of the pocket. Then stitch a seam just under the elastic making sure you don't catch your elastic. As the width of that fabric is 7 inches you need to pull the elastic through gathering the fabric until it is 5 inches wide. Make sure you stitch the elastic at the side and then cut the elastic when you are sure the top measures 5 inches. Take your outer side fabric and attach it to the pocket. Remember you have an extra couple of inches width wise on the bottom of the pocket, so make a couple of pleats in the fabric so it fits nicely and then baste it onto the outer fabric using a scant 1/8 inch seam allowance. I found there is no need to use interfacing on these pockets as they are strong enough without it.
For the magnetic snaps I marked the centre of the fabric and then went down 1 1/2 inches from the top and inserted them on the front and back inner lining. I also ironed on a scrap of interfacing to strengthen that area.
I placed the handles 2 inches in from the edge and basted them onto the top of the bag (see photo below). I then sewed the sides and the bottom of the outside bag and inside bag, so I had two bags, the outer and inner bag. Make sure when sewing on the bottom of the bag lining to the rest of the bag lining to leave a gap of around 4 inches so you can use that to turn your back right way out.
As you can see the lining bag is on the outside, with right side in; with the outer bag inside with the right side facing the lining back. Match up seams and make sure your handles are facing down. Sew around the top twice, once with a stitch length of 2 and then with a stitch length of 3.
Pull out bag through the gap in the lining and sew up the gap, either with machine or hand sew. Then top stitch close to the top of the bag, stitch length 3 is fine, it's more decorative than anything. Then top stitch where the handles meet the top of the bag just for extra security as that is weak point. Iron the bag and then you're all done.
I made the pockets extra deep, and so that the edges all were hidden in the seams. Same with the side pockets I wanted the sides to be hidden in the seams.
I had enough fabric leftover for the simple pouch and the key fob. You may find this video useful as I used some of this lady's ideas for this bag. I did not do a zippered pocket, but do think that would be pretty useful. She also made a zippered top to her bag, but I didn't feel like this bag needed it for the purpose I was making it for.
There is really no pattern I just made it up. I wanted a light weight headband for the Fall. This is perfect for what I wanted. Needles US 5/3.75 mm Leftover yarn, mine was a baby type, so nice and soft. Any will do though, as gauge doesn't matter. Cast on 28 stitches, and knit garter stitch (all knit........see told you it couldn't be simpler!!) until it measures around 18 inches; or goes around your head. Cast off. Sew ends together. Cast on 10 stitches and knit garter stitch until the piece measure the same as the height of the band. Sew the ends together making sure the headband is in between it, see picture above. I attached a couple of stitches to the actual headband so the "knot" stayed in the one place and I also made sure the "knot" covered where I had joined the ends of the headband together. Not sure if any of that makes any sense at all? If not correct me or ask me for more details....LOL
In the May/June issue of Hobby Farm's Home they have a infographic on line drying best practices. If you click on this link, you can see if more easily and you can download and print it as it is a pdf file.
I finally got my first load of laundry line dried last Friday (Good Friday). Hoping it will warm up and I can hang more laundry out. Do you line dry you laundry?
The majority of my clothes pegs/pins are wooden like this:
I don't have any like this:
But do have some plastic ones similar to these:
I made my peg bag out of some material I had and a child's coat hanger. I found a pattern here that uses a tea towel, that is similar. Though the more hard wearing the material the longer it will last.
I still make my own fabric softener using this recipe (actually generally the third one, and I add drops of lemon essential oil as well). I don't make my own laundry detergent as I try and buy it super cheap when on sale and with coupons, but have used home made laundry detergent in the past with great success, and there is a recipe here.
I tend to "do" around five to six loads of laundry a week. Two loads of whites and three to four loads of darks. There are two of us in the house, and sometimes it can be more sometimes less. I rarely use the electric dryer. It's either hung to dry on the clothes horse/airer, or hung outside to dry. Dh complains about how crispy the towels get. I just tell him it's a bonus as they exfoliate his skin at the same time and people pay thousands to have that done and he gets it done for free!!
