Market bag from baling twine

Another finished project! A market bag made with polyester baling twine from the local hardware store.



Based on the Easy One Skein Market Bag pattern by Zeens and Roger that I also used for my very first crocheted project last year. This time I crocheted fewer rounds so it wouldn't get too big, and made two handles instead of one.



Crocheting with the twine was hard work and the twine is very splitty. But I'm pleased with the result!

Market Bag

Last week I discovered that there is a yarn shop in walking distance of my workplace... Of course I had to check it out!



It's a lovely little shop called Teekays Yarns and as it happens they had a Mother's Day Sale on, so how could I not buy any yarn!



I chose this gorgeous Italian yarn called Geilsk Sommer - it's a mix of cotton, ramie and hemp. I needed a short break from the diamonds, so decided on a quick project: a market bag. I found the pattern on Ravelry, it's called the Carry Me Away Market Bag, designed by Yasmin Gamal.



The bag is crocheted with 2 strands of yarn. I had to go back to the shop for one more ball of mustard and two black ones for the top and the handles.



Very happy with my new bag. I've been wanting for weeks to visit the Farmers Market that is on every Sunday at our local park - this Sunday I will definitely do so!

Pineapple Bag

My Pineapple Bag is finished! I think I'll use it for the beach - in the photo above it holds a towel, my swimsuit and a book, and there is room enough for more stuff like sunscreen, a bottle of water etc.



I really enjoyed making this bag, and I love how it looks. For a beginning crocheter it was a challenging pattern - but I like a challenge, so no problem ;-)



It's a big bag, it can hold a lot of stuff - but it stretches a lot, so I wouldn't use it for really heavy things. It would be perfect for yarn shopping!



The pattern starts with a magic loop which I hadn't used before, but I'm glad to say I mastered it (I found these instructions very useful).



I used up almost all of my 200g ball of yarn to make this bag. The ball on the right is what is left of it:



The details:
Pineapple Bag
Pattern: Pineapple Market Bag by Emmhouse
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 8 ply
Hook: 4.0 mm

A new project and a new project bag

This week the Mayan CAL (Crochet-A-Long) hosted by Shelley Husband started on the Spincushions blog. I decided to join this CAL and very much enjoyed doing the first eight rounds. They included some stitches that were new to me, like puff stitches and front post stitches, but Shelley explained them all very clearly so I had no problems completing part 1. Can't wait for part 2 to be released next week!

When I had finished I realised I didn't have a bag to put this project in. I bought a project bag that I love at Morris & Sons in Melbourne earlier this year:



... but there's another project in it at the moment. So I had a good look at it and whipped up this bag, with some fabric that was left over from the Lone Star table topper I made for my father-in-law and his wife last year:



I'm pretty happy with this bag, but there are a few small things that could be improved, so I am going to make another one. I will take some photos and make notes, and add a tutorial here when it's finished. Stay tuned!

First finished crochet project!

I just finished my first crochet project! A simple mesh bag, for shopping, or storing balls of yarn. The free pattern can be found here.



It was fun to do and a quick make - I started it on Thursday and finished it today.



Now I'll get back to the giant granny square shirt and the sea blanket. They're both about halfway done. Stay tuned!

New pattern: Mercator Messenger Bag

I'm happy to introduce my latest pattern: the Mercator Messenger Bag!



A roomy bag, large enough for documents, books or magazines, with handy pockets for small things such as keys, sunglasses, passport...



I decided to cut up this (Pacific-centred) world map panel for the bag. It has been in my stash for years, waiting to be used in a quilt for my youngest son. I used one for the back of an I Spy quilt for my middle son in 2007, and another one in 2009 for the back of the Aussie quilt for my eldest son. We have a world map hanging on the wall now, so it isn't a big deal ;-)



I sewed the bag together with pink Aurifil thread (no.2440) - it matches the lining fabric and nicely contrasts with the main fabric:



I named the bag after Gerardus Mercator, the Flemish cartographer who in 1569 created the world map projection that made navigation much easier. It became the standard projection for centuries, but has in recent years fallen from grace because of the serious distortion issues (you can read more about this interesting subject here).



The pattern is now available in my pattern store on Etsy.

Gymnastics guards bag

In two weeks my youngest son Robert will have his first gymnastics competition of the year. He now competes in Level 4 and gets to use hand guards on high bar, so I made him a small bag to put these in. I made a similar bag for Hugo last year, using my Spoonflower gymnastics fabrics that I also used for Hugo's Big Cushion and for their gym bags



Yesterday Robert had a control test (mock comp) and he did really well. Go Robert!

Messenger bag

A few months ago I made this messenger bag, using a lovely home dec fabric from Ikea  for the outside and a chevron quilting fabric for the lining.



The bag was  a project for issue 9 of Love Sewing Australia, which is now available at newsagents and online. I had planned to add the bag to my Etsy shop, but I liked it so much that it is now my everyday bag!



This is the magazine's cover - see that little superhero?



That's my youngest son Robert, modelling the superhero cape designed by Rachelle Page. He is thrilled to be in a magazine!

Another PTT Post Bag

It has arrived in the Netherlands, so I can finally show it here: another PTT post bag, made from a vintage Dutch post bag.



I made this bag for a good friend in Holland, who saw my bag when we visited her in January and exclaimed that she would love to have one like that :-)



Well, I had bought two more vintage post bags when we were in Holland... Today is her birthday and it arrived yesterday, perfect timing! She told me she loved it :-)



I have now made three PTT post  bags:



The first one (left) in November last year, for myself. The second one (middle) earlier this year, for my friend who was living in New Zealand at that time. And now this one, which will be the last one as I have no more vintage post bags (and no desire to buy any new ones!):



I do have some scraps of the fabric left and may use them to make a cushion - once we have moved and settled in the new house. This is what my sewing room looks like now!

Scandinavian fabrics

It's very quiet here - that doesn't mean I'm not doing any quilting or sewing, just that I can't show it yet. But I can show you the fabrics I'm using. Over the last few months I have been collecting Marimekko fabrics (most come from Finnish Etsy shop OttaBag) - more specifically the Unikko (Poppy) fabric in different colours. I have always loved that design, and decided to make a quilt with it. Half of the top is done so far. The selvedges are to die for - still thinking what to do with them:



I used the fabrics below to make a bag today (a project for a magazine). The chevron is a quilting cotton, the fern print a home dec fabric called Stockholm from Ikea (another Scandinavian fabric!)



More will be revealed in time...

PTT Post Bag

I am very happy to be able to show you this bag! I finally found the courage to cut up the vintage Dutch post bag that my best friend gave me when we  were in Holland in 2012:



(The text above the Dutch tricolour says 'property ptt post' in Dutch, the text below 'post netherlands 84' in French. PTT used to be the postal service in the Netherlands)
I adjusted the Alice Book Bag pattern that I used to make my mail bag(see previous post) to include the Dutch text and the tricolour on the flap, and the French text on the back of the bag:



I made two large exterior pockets (for sunglasses and hand cream) using a piece of coloured fabric:



I lined the bag with... another polka dot fabric!



And created lots of interior pockets - for wallet, keys, mobile phone, business card case etc:



I made the strap from the remaining fabric and broke a few needles trying to attach it to the bag...



I showed it via Skype to my friend (who is living with her family in New Zealand at the moment, we are planning a visit for Easter 2015!). She loved it and asked if I could make one for her as well!
Umm yes... - maybe I can buy another bag when we are in Holland in December...

I made this bag last weekend at a quilting retreat  - did I tell you I was going to a retreat?  No, I don't think I did... I'll show some photos of the venue and the other projects I worked on in the next posting!