Experimenting with See & Sew B5635

I tried another bag pattern, nothing fancy this time, leaving it just the size it is. This time it's See & Sew B5635, a grocery tote. I made the larger of the two sizes. Here's how it turned out...

I never seem to use things for their intended purpose. The previous bag was meant to be a purse and I enlarged it and used it for groceries. This time around I made a grocery tote into a baby bag. I think it will do fine for that purpose. It's a gift for one of my coworkers who's have a baby some months from now. I do intend to make more of these (for groceries) but for now, this one is going to be filled with little Allen Dart stuffed animals (I've already finished a cow) and a braided no sew fleece blanket (I gotta get cracking on that one).

I should say this was my first time working with store bought bias tape, I've sort of made my own in the past when only a little was needed but this bag required quite a bit so I broke down and bought some. I gotta say it's wonderful stuff, convenient, quick, and leaves a lovely finished edge. I'll definitely be using it again.

Ch Ch Ch Changes...

More changes to the bag pattern... You'll notice my boy Archie in the pic.

I did make the body of the bag 7 1/2" bigger than the pocket piece and made significant changes to the strap. I made the new strap by cutting 3 pieces at 21 1/2" x 3 1/4" The three pieces are cut on a fold for extra length. And this is the end result...

So far I'm liking it, though when you use this much fabric it does tend to be a bit floppier at the top than the smaller version but it's not terrible. I may simply use a thicker fabric and leave out the pocket next time or add an additional layer of fabric to the main body of the bag (and either keep or leave the pocket as I choose). I may shorten the strap length a bit in the future, but right now being able to throw it over a shoulder seems pretty nice.

Day of the Dead Bag - fun With Simplicity Pattern 1153

I decided now that I'm working at Jo Anns in the fabric section, I had to have a fun go-to project for when I came across good deals on cute cotton prints (which happily is fairly often). I now live in a city that has a bag ban and all shopping bags have to be ones you bring from home, so basically everyone needs shopping bags. Well there you go then, a unique opportunity to make something that everyone in my immediate area can use that can be custom made to suit the person receiving it. And if the bag itself isn't enough of a gift you can always fill it with something else. ;)

I started experimenting with Simplicity pattern 1153, as you can see it's got good bones, it just needs to be a bit bigger. I took the pattern in to Office Max and had them blow up the pocket section to 13 and 1/4 inch along what will ultimately be the bottom of the bag (I couldn't have the main bag section of the thing blown up because they said it was too big for their machines - no biggy, it's identical to the pocket section just taller, so I will adjust the height as I please).

I've made no enlarged copies of the straps but they seem only slightly smaller than what you'd find on a standard fabric shopping bag so I'll probably just widen them out a little, it looks like the length of the straps is good for the larger bag I've got in mind, as it's already long enough for a purse. A standard fabric shopping bag is 12 inches along the bottom and 14 inches from bottom to top. Since I'm starting with a bottom that's 1 and 1/4 inch larger than normal I may increase the height a little beyond the 14 inch mark, I'm thinking 15 inches or 15 and 1/2 inches from top to bottom. I plan to add 7 1/2 inches in height beyond the printed copy of the pocket to make up the body of the bag. Wish me luck. :)

Travel Bags and being Locked in the Stocks

I was happily able to make the wonderful mosaic knit bag for our classes this July and August for JoAnn's.

This was a fun little knit and I certainly hope that people take an interest, it's so nice to be able to do color work where you only use one color at a time and the pattern is formed by slipping stitches. So much simpler than working with two colors at the same time. It looks so intricate and far more complicated than it actually is. And here are all the projects for the next two months put together.

I really like the crochet bag that Anna did, it's quite nice the way the blue and orange contrast.

Well I got the mosaic bag done and dropped off just before we had to pack for our trip to South Padre Island in Corpus Christi...

That's me and Aaron trying not to over toast ourselves in all that beautiful sunlight. We collected shells and waded out into the ocean. The water was wonderful and nicely warm :)

And this is me at the aquarium...

And me locked in the stocks outside of Blackbeards. All in all a very fun trip.

Adventures with Weeping Angels

Just recently returned from the 2015 Comic Con in Dallas Texas.... used my spare time in some of the convention lines to work on the Plum beret from the last post : ) but one of the most fun things we did was a little side trip to the Grove Hill Cemetary. Why did we go there? To visit the Weeping Angels of course.

There I am wearing the 1st Weekend Cable Beret I knit, just trying to cheer that angle up a bit.

And there's the 4th Doctor's scarf i knit a while back... opps, eyes closed but at least I'm smiling.

And here are me and my best buds with Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell). My favorite pic of the bunch.

Lots of fun, and now I;ve got a ton of ideas for future cosplay costumes : )

Weekend Cable Beret

I discovered a fantastic pattern on Craftsy. The Weekend Cable Beret. It's available to buy here. A nice little cable knit at a great price, it knits up quickly and is just so much fun to do...

and so addicting. This is the first one I did in Serenity Chunky Weight from the Deborah Norville collection in Pristine.

Don't you just love how the choose their color names. I suppose pristine is a fairly fanciful name for white. And this...

is the same hat knit up in Lions Pride Woolspun in Plum.

I love the feel of both these yarns, and the hat knits up nicely (for me at least) with just one skein on size 10s. : )

So next on the agenda, another of these bad boys in Serenity Chunky Weight in Berry Burst. A sweet little color with a mottled raspberry look. Can anyone say Raspberry Beret? Yeah yeah, I've had that song in my head all day now : )