Category Archives: bag lady

accessories, bag lady, crochet, Handbags

A crocheted bag, WIPs and ideas a-plenty

I’ve had the pattern for the Nordstrom hobo bag in my Ravelry queue for ages, and after enlisting the adorable Katu to ship me some Wool of the Andes yarn from Knitpicks and sourcing some cute bag handles, I was finally ready to start! It took me far longer to line the bag and sew the handles on than it did to actually make it – although at first I found the pattern somewhat confusing. I don’t know whether it was my fault interpreting the pattern, or whether the pattern isn’t written very well, but I had to frog the first three rows about three times before I got the hang of it. And the instructions for lining the bag are very vague and not very helpful – if I hadn’t already had some experience lining bags, I would have been in real trouble. But all that aside, I’m really proud of how it turned out!

I’m going to do another one in red (crimson, actually), but not before I’ve finished everything else I have queued up at the moment. I have a lot of projects on the go, including but not limited to:

  • Two pairs of crocheted legwarmers

  • The Noro Plaid Scarf

  • A Japanese-style bag

  • My husband’s birthday present

  • My brother’s birthday present (I won’t put what it is here in case a miracle occurs and he shows an interest in what I do with my time)

  • A super-secret afgan design

  • A Totoro costume for myself to wear to this year’s AVCon. Fingers crossed I have enough time to do it in!

  • A couple of amigurumi patterns I have ideas for

  • A bag for my Mom to keep her cross-stitching bits and pieces in

  • A pink Reddit Alien for my mother-in-law

Phew! Still, it’s nice to be kept busy. This weekend I will be descending upon the annual Salisbury Craft and Hobby Fair in search of yarn bargains and other bits and pieces to help me with my sewing and crocheting endeavours. I hope everyone has a good long weekend!

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bag lady, Handbags, kitty, sewing

It’s in the bag!

I am so proud right now, guys! I have just finished my very first fancy handbag!

Luke's Mom's Bag

I’m pretty excited about it, as you might be able to tell 😛 I made it for my mother-in-law, after making a resolution for this year that I would give only handmade gifts to people for birthdays, Christmas and the like. Despite much visible distress from my family when I announced this decision, I have forged ahead with my resolution, and so when I realised my mother-in-law’s birthday was just around the corner, I instructed my husband to find out her favourite colours.

The answer she gave was black, pink and white, and so from there I embarked on the largest sewing project I had undertaken to date. It is worth noting that I had actually made two handbags prior to this one, one for myself and one for my stepsister, and had already learned a little bit about the art of bag-making.

My first step was to go to my local Spotlight (an Australian craft store for those not in the know) and pick up my materials. I love choosing materials. I feel like it’s where the adventure truly begins, as mad as that sounds. I got a metre of both my outer and lining fabric, a metre of ribbon, and a metre and a half of the stiffest iron-on interfacing they had. I also bought a pink zip, but we don’t mention the zip. Zips are for the weak.

For the basic bag structure, a friend recommended I use this pattern. While I did use that pattern as a guide, I did end up diverging from it quite a bit in the end. Still, it was an extremely helpful tutorial and I would recommend it to anyone looking to make their first bag.

Kitty

The little cat hanging from the side is my little signature cat! I love cats. I fully intend to be a crazy cat lady when I’m older and have my own house and don’t have nasty, cat-hating landlords dictating my pet allowances. Anyway. I intend for the cat to be different for every bag I make, but for this one, he’s made of felt. Incidentally, it would appear everyone on the internet recommends you don’t iron felt. I searched and searched to see if I was able to iron my kitty onto some interfacing without scorching his little face off, and everywhere said no. But I’m a determined kind of person, and decided to do it anyway. AND HE TURNED OUT FINE. So nuts to you, internet. Disclaimer: If you do iron your felt and it melts or something, it’s totally not my fault.

So there you have it: My first awesome handbag!

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