Oriental bag

I've spent the afternoon getting re-acquainted with sewing. I thought I'd try a small and simple project to overcome my lack of interest. I'd bought a small bag kit from Ally Pally last year, and decided to make it up. The instructions claimed it was so easy 'it will be finished 40 minutes from when you first thought of it'.

Hmm. Not quite. Three hours was more accurate. Not because the pattern was badly written or difficult to follow. Just because I'm pretty slow with sewing, and because I kept having to scuttle off and unearth another tool; I had forgotten the vast number of tools needed to do even a simple piece of sewing. For this little bag, I had to find:

• cutting board
• rotary cutter
• 2 plastic rulers
• measuring tape
• sleeve roll
• metal edge for hemming
• scissors
• blind hem foot

That's not even counting the iron, moving the machine into free arm mode, changing feet and threading machine and bobbin!

I also made life a bit difficult by forgetting to iron on the interfacing at the right time, and having to retro fit it to the made up bag, and by stupidly sewing seams on the right side of the bag.

The only modification I made to the bag was to iron on the left over interfacing to the bottom of the lining to add stability, and double sewing around the top to secure the handles and lining.

The main bag

The strap

The lining

The finished bag.

So was it worth it?

Well, I still don't like sewing. I find it stressful rather than relaxing, and I get aches and pains from poor posture and straining my eyes. On the other hand, I have got a fully lined attractive bag finished, and I couldn't do that in three hours of knitting. I've also got a hefty stash of cotton fabrics, so if I can make bags, I will make some inroads on it. At least I don't have to worry about the fit or complete accuracy. I think I will try again, although I don't know when...