Lined Project Bag - Tutorial

We had a rainy weekend here in Sydney, so I whipped up four (!) more project bags. They are great for crochet projects, but would also work very well for sock knitting or hand sewing projects.



And they are quick and easy to make - no pesky zippers, 'cause we wouldn't want our precious yarn to get caught up in a zipper, right?
If you can sew a straight line, you can make these bags. And you could easily make one in an evening.
I took photos of every step of the process, and have written it out here if you want to give it a go. If you'd rather be crocheting or knitting, stay tuned for I will be giving away some of these bags here on the blog later this week!

You will need:

Materials:
- two 12'' (25cm) squares of fabric for the outside
- two 12'' (25 cm) squares of lining fabric
- two 11'' x 5'' (28 x 13 cm) rectangles of lining fabric
- two 20'' (50 cm) pieces of cord or ribbon
- pair of toggles (optional)

Tools:
- ruler
- fabric marker
- scissors
- pins
- matching or contrasting thread (I use and recommend Aurifil threads)
- sewing machine
- iron and ironing board
- safety pin
- 2 small bulldog clips



1. Take the two outer fabric squares, right sides together, and pin along the side and bottom edges. If you are using a directional fabric like I did, make sure the top is facing up. Sew the three sides together using a 1/2'' (1 cm) seam allowance. Backstitch at the start and end.



2. Do the same for the lining fabric squares.
3. Now take one corner of one of the bags you have just sewn (I'll show my lining one here, as it's easier to see on the lighter fabric) and arrange it so that the side seam sits on top of the bottom seam, like this:



The photo above shows the side seam. If you lift up the corner you'll see the bottom seam:



Make sure the seams are folded to the same side. When they are perfectly matched, pin them together. Take your ruler, line it up with the seam, and find the point where the distance from one side to the other is 2.5'' (6.35 cm) - this is how wide the bottom of the bag will be. Use your fabric marker to draw a line on the fabric.



4. Sew along this line, backstitching at the start and end.



5. Cut off the corner 1/4'' (0.5 cm) from the seam:




6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the other corner. The inner bag now has a nice flat bottom:



7. Repeat steps 3-6 for the outer fabric bag.
8. Turn the outer fabric bag right side out. Fold in the top edge 1/2'' (1 cm) and press. It now looks like this:




9. Leave the lining fabric bag wrong side out. Fold out the top edge 1/2'' (1 cm) and press. It now looks like this:



10. Place the lining bag in the outer bag with wrong sides facing. Match up the side seams and pin them together. Small bulldog pins are useful to do this, or binding clips if you have them.




11. Take one of the lining fabric rectangles and fold in the short edges 1/2'' (1 cm). Press.



12. Now fold the rectangle in half lengthwise and press.



13. Repeat steps 11 and 12 with the other lining rectangle.
14. Take one of the folded lining rectangles and insert it between the inner and outer bag with the folded side on top. About 1'' (2.5 cm) of the rectangle should pop out. Pin the rectangle in place, as shown in the photos below. Make sure the edges of the inner and outer bag are neatly lined up.





15. Sew the inner and outer bag together with the lining fabric in between. Start at one side seam and end at the other, backstitching at both ends. Sew a few millimetres from the edge of the outer bag, taking care not to catch the other side of the bag in your sewing.



16. Repeat steps 14 and 15 for the other side.



17.  Use a darning needle or safety pin to guide one piece of cord or ribbon through one sleeve and back through the other.



18. Starting at the other side, guide the other piece of cord or ribbon through one sleeve and back through the other. Tie the two ends on both sides together or use toggles.



19. Put your project in the bag, pull on the ends, and voilà! Your new project bag is finished!



If you have any questions about this tutorial, just leave a comment here and I will do my best to answer it. And if you make a project bag, I would love to see a photo!

You are free to use this tutorial to make project bags and sell them. Please do link back to this blog post as the source of the pattern for the bags.

Mondrian's Lone Star

UPDATE: This pattern is now available in my pattern store on Etsy!



May I present my latest quilt: Mondrian's Lone Star!



I made this modern baby quilt back in February, but have waited to show it here, because it is one of the projects in issue 19 of the digital magazine Make Modern, which is available now!



I have always been a fan of the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, and last year I made a small Mondrian's Lone Star quilt (16'' x 16'') for the 10th Annual Quilt Alliance Contest (you can read more about it here).



At the time I mentioned that I would like to make a larger version, and so I did - this one is 39.5" or 1 metre square. It is strip-pieced and quilted in straight lines with white Aurifil 40wt thread, to emphasize the graphic effect.



For the binding I used a fun Mondrian-themed fabric that had been in my stash for ages, waiting for the right project:



I had to provide photos for the magazine, so took the quilt for a photo shoot to Edgecliffe Boulevard here in Collaroy Plateau, where you have a lovely view over Narrabeen Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean:



But indoors it looks good too!



Here is a close-up:



Mondrian's Lone Star is now hanging on the wall in my sewing room:



Piet Mondrian was one of the most famous members of the Dutch art movement De Stijl (The Style) and this year it's exactly 100 years ago that De Stijl was founded. In my home country the Netherlands lots of events and exhibitions are held this year to celebrate this (you can read more about it here). When we were in the Netherlands in July, we saw the red, yellow and blue everywhere - like this flag on a church tower in The Hague:



So it's very appropriate that I made this quilt this year!

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!

Here be dragons

Yesterday I took a short break from crocheting to make this pencil case for my middle son Ernst. It was his 13th birthday on Tuesday and he got (as requested) a set of 24 coloured pencils (and some other things as well, obviously). He asked if I could make a case for them. Of course!



He loves dragons, so chose this fabric from my stash. I think I bought it in 2016 for his Big Dragon Cushion, but didn't use it in the end because it didn't go very well with the other fabrics.



Ernst loves the case. Here is the first drawing he made with his new pencils:




Speaking of dragons, today this crocheted dragon popped up on my Facebook feed. It's a pattern by Crafty Intentions, available on Ravelry. I showed it to Ernst who begged me to make one for him! So I've ordered the pattern although I'm not sure if my crochet skills are up to this level yet...



And speaking about making things for my sons - we've had a few moving companies come in this week to check out our stuff and give a quote for moving us from Sydney to the Gold Coast in January. A lady from one of those companies saw my sewing machine and the quilts hanging on the walls, and exclaimed that it was a shame I did not have any daughters to make things for...!

Rag rug crocheted with t-shirt yarn

A few years ago I started making a braided rug with t-shirt yarn. At some point the rug began to curl - I couldn't get it to lay flat and discarded it. However, I held on to the balls of t-shirt yarn I made at the time, and with my new-found crochet skills they suddenly proved to be very useful!



I used up all the balls I had to make this rug. I had mainly dark colours, so asked hubby if he had an old white shirt I could cut up - and he did! (check out my tutorial on how to make continuous t-shirt yarn here)



With a 10mm hook the rug grew quickly, but it was pretty hard on my hands. However, I'm very happy with the result. I hope there will be a good spot for it in our next house, because we don't really have one at the moment!

Crochet-covered stone

A few years ago I wanted to learn to crochet so I could make a crochet-covered stone. A colleague at the time taught me the basics, but I didn't really get it, and in the end I bought a lovely stone from Monicaj on Etsy. I still have it, it's gorgeous. But now of course I finally have the skills to make a crochet-covered stone myself!

I thought I'd start with a large one and some 8ply cotton (left over from the Sea Colours blanket). I asked my youngest son to find me one on the local beach, and he brought this flat, almost hand-sized stone back. Here is a photo with an apple for size:



I used this free Ravelry pattern (in Dutch, but it's also available in English) and made the eye cover. I love the result! I'll ask my son to find some smaller stones and try to make covers with a thinner thread.

I think I'll use this stone as a paperweight. It will be a lovely memory of Collaroy Beach when we are back in Queensland next year.

Yes, you read that correctly - we are moving back to Queensland! Not to Brisbane, but to the Gold Coast, where my husband has accepted a job at Griffith University. We will move in the first week of January 2018. I am very happy - Sydney is a beautiful city, but I do not find it very livable. One of our sons shares my feelings and is also very happy to go back to Queensland; the other two have mixed feelings - they will miss their friends here, but are glad they'll be much closer to their friends in Brisbane (the Gold Coast is about an hour's drive from Brisbane).

I am not looking forward to moving house again (the 4th time in less than 2.5 years...), but it looks like this time all the packing and unpacking will be done for us, which definitely makes it easier! And on the Gold Coast we'll have a lot more house for our money - that's also something to look forward to!

Sea Colours blanket

It's finished! So happy with my very first crocheted blanket!



Yesterday I added the border, then rushed out to get some foam mats from the local hardware store before they closed. I blocked the blanket last night:



And this morning had a photo shoot in the garden!



Since these are the first granny squares I've made since I learned to crochet in July, there is room for improvement. Some squares were larger than others (so some serious stretching was done), some squares have gaping holes where I started a new row, some have colour changes that could have been done more subtly... But I've learned a lot while making this project, and I just adore the fresh colours, so warts and all, I love this blanket!



The details:
Sea Colours blanket
Pattern: Baby blanket by Jeanet Jaffari
Yarn: 4 Seasons Flinders Cotton 8 ply
Hook: 4.0 mm

Crocheting and knitting...

Last week I bought this nifty blocking board on Etsy and blocked all remaining squares for my Sea Colours blanket at once! Now I'm sewing them together, which isn't as much fun as making them was..



I've also made some progress on the 2017 Sydney Temperature Scarf. The first 8 months of the year are done, and the scarf now measures 119 cm:



I'm still a bit obsessed with crochet, and looking for crochet bloggers to follow. I would like to do a CAL (crochet along) - if you know of any that are about to start please leave a comment!

Road trip to Brisbane

Last week, when the boys had school holidays, we drove down to Brisbane. We met up with old friends and visited our favourite places, such as New Farm Park (photo above), where the jacarandas were blooming. It was so good to be back!



In New Farm I took a few pics of some gorgeous art deco buildings (more pics on my photo blog):



We also spent some time in South Bank. I love the bougainvillea there:



A typical Queensland thunderstorm rolled in while we walked past the Streets Beach. I'm very pleased with this photo!



I did a lot of crocheting both in the car and in our B&B at night...



... and came home with this pile of granny squares. Only a few more to go and then I can start to assemble the Sea Colours blanket!