I hope everyone is enjoying their spring! Here in the mountains of Colorado, we've had some really nice weather alternating with more snow. We're expecting another 5-7 inches on Monday night. I like the snow because it gives us more insurance against the summer fires, but I sure am ready to be done with it!
I haven't done much sewing in the last couple of weeks, but I did sew another project bag. I had picked up some yarn for a cardigan and I didn't have a project bag that was big enough, so I decided to make a new one. And I had some bee fabric that I love and I've been wanting to make something out of for a long time, so this was the perfect opportunity! The big Finch Bucket bag, that I've made a couple of times, was just a little bit too small for all of this yarn, so I increased the size a couple of inches in each direction. The resulting bag was just perfect for this project!
While I was making this, it dawned on me that I should probably share a trick I figured out a while ago. One of the things that always bothered me when making bags was that I couldn't get a good. straight press on the bottom of the piece of fabric used to make the slot pockets on the inside of the bag. For this bag, the slot pockets extend completely across the lining, with their sides enclosed in the side seams of the binding. For these pockets, you sew a tube of fabric that you turn right-side-out and then press flat:
The difficult part is getting the side with the seam, which ends up being the bottom of the pocket, to be nice and straight. What I've found to be the best tool to get a nice, straight edge on the bottom of the pocket is a thin, metal ruler:
I slide the ruler into the pocket and push it to the seam end, making sure that the ruler is on the same side of the seam allowance all the way along the seam. I push it as tightly as possible into the seam:
and then iron right over the ruler:
If the pocket is longer than the ruler (like it was in this case), I flip everything over and do the same thing on the other side. I flip it over just because it's easier for me with the iron in my right hand. This gives me a perfectly straight bottom to the pocket:
And here's what the pocket looks like when it's sewn to the lining piece:
Perfect!
I also did some more embroidery on my wool applique bag. This time I did most of the embroidery on one of the flowers:
This is a long-term project so I'll just keep plugging away at it a little at a time.
The rest of my projects this time were knitting. We got our May Lola's Choice kit, Loquita, last week:
This was a smaller project -- a beaded necklace -- so I was able to finish it fairly quickly. Here it was blocking last night:
And then finished, with the clasp attached:
I really love knitting with beads and this was a really fun, quick project!
I also finished the snood that I was making for my sister for Christmas. Last time, I'd been worried about the yarn, thinking that I was supposed to hold it double and I hadn't done that. Well, I took some time and looked at the pattern some more. It turned out that the pattern had two different yarn suggestions in different weights. The lighter weight would be held double, but the worsted weight, which is what I was using, wasn't. So it turned out that I was doing the right thing and, since I was loving the feel of the snood, I decided to finish it with that yarn. It turned out so gooshy soft!
I think she's going to love it!
Finally, I also got my May installment of the Jimmy Beans knit club project, the Lakeside Summer Shawl by Jenny V. Nelson:
They send little prizes with each installment, and this month I got that cute little hedgehog zipper bag. That will be nice for holding the little knitting accessories -- stitch markers, tape measure, tapestry needles (for weaving in ends) -- in my project bags. There was a lot of knitting for this month's installment, but I was able to finish it up:
The knit club has 3-month projects, so the June installment will finish this one up. I really like how delicate the elongated stitches look in this project!
Well, that's it for this post. I hope everyone is doing well!
Nancy
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