Saturday 24 August 2013

Thrilled with my FIRST EVER Drawstring bag

My last post featured the patchwork Book bag I had made for little Rosie.

This post features my FIRST EVER Drawstring Bag!  Can't tell you how pleased I am with myself. 

I was determined to use only 2.5" squares from my stash and had originally decided on a blue, green, orange  and yellow colourway.  But when I set them out on my "Design Floor" (aka the carpet in my sewing room!) the arrangement didn't thrill me.

 
It looked dull and boring and very "un-zingy".  So I left it, did something else and went back the next day when I decided to only keep the green squares and use pink and purple for the rest of the patchwork.  Much better!
 


After that I added another row across and jiggled around with the placement a bit.

I have never made a proper Drawstring bag before and my friend Sarah suggested I follow an excellent tutorial on the Pink Penguin blog.  It's actually for a Reversible Bag but I just used a piece of purple Moda marble fabric for the lining.

Then, as Sarah told me, I carefully followed the blog's instructions. 
I have a real problem with Spatial  Awareness so I couldn't see in my head how the instructions for joining the casing to the front of the bag and then to the lining would work out.  But they did!  I threaded 2 lengths of cord through the casing as instructed and - hey presto! - I had a bright, colourful Drawstring bag that worked!

The Back:

The Front:
 
 
And the drawn-up bag:


It measures 12" x 14" which I think should be the right size for a small pair of trainers, T shirt and shorts.

I have just popped round to Rosie's Granny's house with the two finished bags and she was equally delighted.  Hope Rosie likes them too.



Isn't it a great feeling when you try something new and it works out well?

Just realised that I used 154 x 2.5" squares from my Stash and I didn't have to cut one specially for these projects.  Proves that a few moments spent cutting scraps into squares when you finish a project does pay dividends.  Now I need to cut more squares, especially pink, purple and green as I am virtually out of those colours.
 

3 comments:

  1. That is a brilliant idea, to cut up squares as you go. Would solve a whole lot of storage issues, and might inspire me to get on with my quilt. I could get my daughters onto that job.
    Love the drawstring bag. You are so clever!

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  2. Thank you. I'm not clever, that's the Pink Penguin and my friend Sarah who told me to follow the instructions to the letter! It is great having a stash of squares ( I also have 3", a few 4" including my Crumb blocks!, a handful of 4.5" & 5"). A really easy Quilt and very effective, is made completely from 2.5" squares, sewn into blocks of 16 squares, 4 x 4. I have an example on my Flickr Photostream, a cot quilt I made for a friend's baby( she is now 5 years old). I'll go and look up the details and add another comment for you. You do use a rotary cutter for cutting squares etc, don't you?

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  3. Hello again, Jo.
    2 quilts in my Photostream:
    So many squares Baby Quilt for Serena,( made from 2.5" squares) photo taken March 4th 2008 made by using the 4x4, 16 squares to a block method &
    Vintage Patches Baby Quilt for Gemma's baby ( made from 3" squares) Made by setting out the squares in rows, then joining the rows together. The 16 Squares to a block method is better for a beginner quilt.Photo taken 29th July 2012
    Both found in my Set called "Baby Quilts".

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