Bringing out the beast

Last Friday I decided to break out the sewing machine. I've been wanting to sew for such a long time but the amount of work it takes to get everything out and find space that I can make a big mess in just never seems worth it.

I'm so glad I finally did it! I think I became so obsessed with knitting because it doesn't require a lot of space (stash storage excluded). My plan was to make a small project knitting bag to try and break free from the oh so stylish Ziploc. Easy, right? No. Boy was I rusty! 6 attempts later, there's still a change I want to make. You thought I was a perfectionist when it came to knitting...I'm starting to think I might have sewing OCD.

I definitely prefer the shorter version, which was actually the result of mistake after mistake. It started the same height as the dark bag. Isn't the fabric pretty? I think it's called Dobby cotton. It's the Japanese kind with texture.

I made the pattern with a compass and ruler, forgetting basic sewing principles like width subtraction when attaching cylinders to circles. There would have been a lot less stress with a box bottom.

I also wanted my lining to be firmly attached to the bottom, rather than flipped over, because it irks me to pull something out of a bag and have the lining come with it.

It also took me a bit to figure out the right closure. I prefer the look of two drawstrings, like the above bags, but the single drawstring with a cord stopper is more secure for tossing into other bags.

You won't believe the fabrics that are in my stash. It was a good wake-up call for stashing yarn. Most of the fabric has been there for around 15 years and isn't so appealing anymore (that's the problem when you keep stuff from your teen years). Below is one example of a lovely gem I came across. The receipt was dated 1991(!) and it's not the oldest in there.

Next up are larger bags for other works in progress and a needle holder. I sketched out my plan for a needle case but, given, the number of revisions it took for a silly bag, I'm a little intimidated by the number of times I'm going to have to make needle cases before I end up with one I like.

Given that I've become quite proficient at making the small bags, I'm considering opening an Etsy store. There are already lots of sellers with similar bags but there must be room for one more.

Tomorrow Eddie has 35% off all their fabric and 25% off everything else in the store. I'm hoping to get some modern fabrics to update the stash and make some sort of slouchy shoulder bag with a big button. I'll probably end up with 5 slightly different bags in case anyone is interested.