Five Baht Elephant

my crafty home

Made: A Backpack That I Really Like

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This is the Range Backpack by Anna Graham (Noodlehead) and I’m still not exactly sure how I even got started or why I decided I needed to sew up this bag. For one, I kept seeing them pop up in my instagram feed. Two, I felt that a backpack would be nice to take on walks around the neighborhood, or bike rides to the farmers market. Three, I wanted to work with waxed canvas. I’m sure there are other reasons, but mostly I just really liked how it looked!

I bought the waxed canvas from AL Francis Textiles on Etsy and locally from Fancy Tiger and then the bag hardware from So You Need Hardware. The straps and interior fabric is Essex Linen that I also grabbed from Fancy Tiger. This came together way way easier than I could have thought. I cut the fabric and started stitching the straps on a Friday afternoon/evening and then had the whole thing finished by Saturday afternoon. Denver got some snow that weekend, and after a team workout at CrossFit Park Hill I holed myself up in my sewing room and finished it.

As with all of Anna’s patterns, the instructions were so clear. The waxed canvas was awesome to work with as well and was so easy to stitch. I did use a denim needle and polyester thread as recommended.

By Sunday, the sun came out and warmed up to the 60s. Miles and I had to get out of the house and I used this bad as intended – on a walk to the Botanic Gardens. It is perfect and I love it.

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Made: Flying Geese Tote

makerstote

… and of course it is another knitting project bag! Really, I don’t need anymore; I just like making them.

This is Noodlehead‘s Maker Tote. Love her patterns – I’ve made almost every one!

For the exterior, I had some leftover strips of Allison Glass fabric and I made lots and lots and lots of flying geese. I used a paper piece template (free over at Fresh Lemons) which made easy and accurate work.

I can’t decide which is my favorite – the sparkly gray used in the handles, binding or zipper tape or the hot pink wood grain lining or the cats I used for the pockets. I can’t decide.

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Made: Reversible Sock Knitting Project Bag

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I’m a big fan of Shannon Cook. Even though she primarily designs knitting patterns, I’ve made more of her project bags than any of her knit stuff. (Like this but then I also made this.) I don’t exactly need anymore project bags, but I have fabric that needs to be used. The reversible project bag is a free tutorial on Shannon’s blog, and it came together pretty quickly.

I picked up this text fabric a few years ago and I probably had a bag in mind when I bought it. Who know what I was thinking when I bought it. Anyway, the tutorial recommends that you interface one layer. After putting this together, I think I used one that is a bit thicker than I should have. That’s why it looks kinda wrinkly in the photos.

Right now I’m using it to hold the knitted hexagons I started way back when.

MadeKnittingBag

And meet Bane. Our Bengal kitten. He’s been with us for a little over a month, and I am the primary caregiver. Well, I’m the only one home right now, so he only has me to hang out with. He follows me everywhere and it is adorable – until it is annoying, like when I’m trying to take photos.

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Made: Caravan Tote

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I LOVE THIS BAG.

Its my favorite bag I’ve made so far. Intended as my new ‘sweater knitting bag’ I’ve yet to put my latest sweater project in it because I keep using it for other things!

What I like:

  • tote style – just throw my crap in it
  • the metal zipper – gives it a more professional-made look
  • leather straps and pull tab – see above comment + ease – making straps take time; I bought the leather from AllLeatherSupplies (etsy)
  • size – big enough without being too big
  • needle pocket – I sized one of the pockets to fit my phone and the ‘needle’ slots are just right for pens

What I would do different:

  • actually buy a snap setter for this particular snap – I bought these metal snaps from Springfieldleather (etsy) which are the same size as a snap setter that I already have, but the post length was too long for the setter. So… really these are decorative and not functional. oops!
  • install an interior zip pocket
  • add a key holder inside because my keys get lost in the bottom of the bag

caravan tote

The bag came together pretty quickly actually. Cutting the fabric and interfacing took the most time. I cut and interfaced the pieces in one afternoon – grouping and labeling the pieces as I went. However, when assembling the pieces, I got a little confused due to the pattern piece descriptions. I think next time I’ll number them and then mark up the pattern instructions with the numbers. I followed the pattern instructions including the type of interfacing. I omitted the grommets on the interior slip pocket; they’re intended as yarn guides, but I know that I won’t use them. However, grommets are pretty cool looking.

I was able to make this month’s Denver Metro Modern Quilt Guild meeting where I showed it off. I love being part of this guild (and the FRMQG for the same reasons), not only for the eye candy and inspiration, but for the suggestions and tips. While I was up there, the other ladies mentioned finding leather belts at Goodwill to re-purpose for bag handles and Stephanie mentioned looking in the climbing section of REI at the ropes and tie-downs for straps and handles.

I’ve already got fabric and leather purchased for my next one.

Pattern: Caravan Tote by Anna Graham (Noodlehead)

Made: Sew Together Bag #10(?)

Yeah, so I think this is #10 for me. Yikes.

Most of this one was cut and put together when I made the seven others back in March/April for my friends. The real motivation to finish this one for me was to move all my makeup from the random bags under my sink into one bag. Nothing really new to say about it, so here are the photos!

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Made: Divided Basket and WIP: Strokkur

I’ve been on a crafting kick – guess I’ve gotten my motivation to make things back.

We were in Telluride, CO this past weekend for little get away. JJ, Miles and I needed the time away from work, Denver and life in general. It was awesome. The drive to Telluride from Denver is over 6 hours, so I brought along two knitting projects. The one you see below is my Strokkur that I started back in January. I was having trouble keeping the entire project in my project bag, so when I came back I knew I wanted to make something bigger to hold it.

Divided Basket

The pattern is the Divided Basket by Noodlehead (Anna Graham). I’ve sewn plenty of her tutorial/patterns and they are really well done. Modifications I made to the written pattern were to use Pellon 72 – Peltex and batting to reinforce the exterior pieces. The Peltex and batting really give the basket structure. The sides of the bag do not fold in AT ALL – unlike my other project bags. Stitching all the layers was a bit tricky so I made sure I went slowly and didn’t force the fabric through the machine.

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One side of the basket has two pockets where I keep little knitting notions – stitch markers, scrap yarn, scissors.

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I dug through my fabric box and resurrected some pieces that I’ve had for an embarrassingly long time (i’m talking years here). The exterior is an Echino print that I’m pretty sure is out of production. The dotted fabric used in the lining is so old, I can’t remember where I bought it, let alone who makes it. The divider and trim on the handles are leftover shot cotton from another project.

Divided Basket-4

Here you can see the colorwork detail of the sweater yoke. Colorwork is fun – both the process and this particular pattern. The yarn is a traditional Icelandic wool – the yarn sticks to each other, so there is a lot of me stopping to untangle the yarn while knitting. The sweater sat in hibernation over most of the summer. This wool is quite warm, and just not particularly fun to knit when it is hot outside. But the cool mountain mornings in Telluride were perfect for hotel room deck knitting. And I’m just about finished with the sweater. I’m really excited to see the final result. More details can be found on my Ravelry project page: Strokkur.

Made: Seven (!) Sew Together Bags

Nashville
I met up with 7 ‘college’ friends a few weeks ago. (If you know me outside my crafty, then you’d know that ‘college’ for me was a miliary academy.) We flew in from Denver/Colorado Springs, Washington DC, Tampa and Atlanta for a short weekend in Nashville. We ate tons of good food – seriously, every meal there was amazeballs – bought cowboy boots, watched Diane Sawyer and Bruce Jenner talk about some things on TV, and talked and talked and talked. Oh, and well, 3 of us ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon on Saturday too – fun fun race. Side note, this was my 2nd half marathon this year and my quickest post-baby (2:02:09).

FOSTB

I wanted to make something for each of the girls, and the Sew Together Bag was the pattern I chose. It is just a great bag! Every time I make a Sew Together Bag, I’m amazed at the clever-ness of the construction. I just finished up seven of these bags last month, so I had a lot of opportunity to marvel at this pattern!

STB WIP

The exterior fabric comes from a fat quarter bundle of Mochi by Rashida Coleman-Hale, the lining and pocket lining fabric is actual Army fabric – the same stuff that the uniforms are made of; Fabric.com sells yardage and that is where I purchased mine. Zippers come from Zip It on Etsy.

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Getting these sewn up was easier and faster than I anticipated. I did it assembly-style, which wasn’t exactly interesting. One day I cut all the pockets and lining. Another day, I cut all the interfacing. Then it was the exterior. Another day I ironed the interfacing. Then it was putting together the interior. And so on.

The final few steps were a bit fiddly, and I broke 3 needles sewing the long zipper tabs down. But when I got them all complete and lined up, a big huge smile came across my face.

Catch Up Post – Sewing Edition

I have a knitting update as well, but I won’t bombard you with the craftiness all at once.

I’ve been making a bunch of fun little things now that I’m on baby-quilt-making hiatus!

First Up: FRMQG Mini Quilt Swap

The theme of this one is Critters, Creatures and Mythical Beasts! Which sounded super fun when I signed up, but as I got closer to execution, just confused me. My partner indicated that she wanted a critter. And critters just creep me out. But bees? Bees are great. I like bees. They don’t scare me or creep me out. I didn’t like any of the paper-peiced bee patterns I came across, but I did like this cute little cross stitch pattern from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.

Now, I haven’t cross stitched in years. Probably decades really. Most of my couch crafting time is spent knitting, however, I shifted focus to the bees for a week. And a week was all it took for me to finish this!

Look how cute:

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FRMQG Mini Swap

To make the mini quilt, I chose to frame the bees with cathedral windows. Like the flying geese quilt, making a cathedral window quilt has been on my to-do list for a few years. I love the look of this block put together. The construction is fiddly, time-consuming and layered. All that work is totally worth it though. The double layer of fabric means no batting or quilting or binding required! I love the gentle curves that frame the pops of color.

I opted to include a reversible box tote – same pattern as the project bag I made a few months ago. The mini quilt only measures about 12″ square, which is a bit smaller than the swap requirements. I made bias tape out of a super colorful floral print that I got in another swap. I sketched out some curves on the front exterior bag pieces and stitched the bias tape on the pieces before constructing the bag.

Next up are some selfish sewing projects. Appropriately titled project bags. Mostly for knitting. Can’t have too many project bags, right? I usually don’t have multiple knitting projects going at once, but I’m wanting to get away from that. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I want to knit something, but not necessarily the sweater I’ve currently got on the needles. Then other times, I’m all about the sweater.

project bags

I wanted a smaller drawstring bag for smaller knitting projects. I used some leftovers from the baby boy quilt I made last month.

And I really like these reversible box totes! My first one still holds my sweater project, but I wanted another one made out of Charley Harper fabric to hold a shawl project. I bought the canvas/heavy-weight version of this fabric panel and attached the interfacing to the lining fabric to add more structure to the bag. And this time I included pockets on both the inside and the outside.

Whew! That’s a lot of typing for one post. Here’s a link to the tutorials/patterns I used for these projects:

*Beekeeper Cross Stitch
*Cathedral Windows Tutorial, Handy cutting chart for differnt block sizes
*Reversible Box Tote – free pattern
*Lined Drawsting Bag Tutorial

Made: Knitting Project Bag

I’ve been knitting so much lately that my hand/wrist has been bothering me. I’m sure that my recent obsession with my gym’s fitness classes haven’t helped. My grip strength needs some work, and my forearms are just super sore all the time it seems.

ANYWAY, the other night I felt like I needed a break. I probably should have spent that time making Christmas gifts. But I’m not that nice. In fact, I’ve been a pretty selfish crafter these days. Instead of knitting, I made a project bag. FOR ME!

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At first, I intended to make a smaller bag, for smaller knitting projects – looking at you, Japanese knot bag. But then I found this free pattern posted by Shannon, coincidentally the same talented designer that published Antrorse, the work in progress red sweater stuffed in the bag right here.

Super simple. The bag has 8 pieces, including pocket AND interfacing. The tricky parts for me included attaching the interfacing to the lining fabric. Tricky because it is NOT fusible interfacing, and I did NOT want to sew it in. So I used some Heat-n-Bond. The other tricky part was attaching the lining and outer bag together at the curved top seam. The instructions called for pressing a 1/4″ hem and then butting those together and top stitching. I skipped the pressing part and just folded the pieced together as I stitched.

The other modification I made to the published pattern was to omit the exterior pocket. I don’t intend to reverse the bag, so I kept the pocket on the lining.

The fabrics all came from my stash; a Bella solid and an Ikea print. See the two deer? I did that on purpose.

What an improvement from the Lululemon shopping bag, which was just a smidge too small.

project bag

I like this type of open top bag for large knitting projects. There’s not zipper or clasp for the yarn to tangle up on, and the open top means keeping the yarn ball in the bag while knitting.

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And it’s pretty.

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My next sewing project really will be Christmas gifts. I mean it!

Made: Weekender Bag

weekender bag

I love this bag. LOVE IT. And i use it everyday as my work bag, so it gets TONS of use.

I’m a bit behind in documenting my crafty – this bag has been finished since September! Yikes. Well, here we go!

Amy Butler’s Weekender Bag has been on my sewing list for a few years now. I had bought the pattern ages ago, but couldn’t muster up the courage/desire/willpower to actually make it.  It wasn’t until my friend Heather mentioned a sewalong of sorts at a Denver Metro Modern Quilt Guild sew in. We needed moral support.

I loved the look of this bag, made by Jennie at Porch Swing Quilts. I used 2 charm packs of Kate Spain’s Good Fortune for the patchwork panels, a Cotton + Steel basic for the handles and piping and a solid turquoise for the zipper panel. Modifications I made to the pattern was to lengthen the handles by about 5″ and I added an interior zip pocket on one side.

I worked on it pretty steadily over a few weeks, finishing up the day before I hopped on a plane back East. Work in Baltimore, then hanging out with friends in DC for the weekend. And the bag came with! It’s large enough for my work laptop and a whole bunch of other stuff. I used it as my carry-on AND my be-bop around the National Mall bag.

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OH, and here’s a story. I was in the National Galleries, looking at a Van Gogh, when a woman came up to me and asked if I had made my bag. She said it looked great, and that she was only asking because she has the same fabric back at home!

 

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