Catching up with bags
>> Tuesday, February 14, 2006
I have a few loose ends to tie up regarding bags, so I decided to do it all in one post and that will be the theme. The first one is the camera case I made just before my trip to Montréal. It's quilted to protect the camera, and lined with my new dots fabric. I used a bit of the ric-rac sent by Michelle on the pocket, which holds the extra memory card and I used some striped ribbon I bought a long time ago for the strap.
Here's a detail of the strap.
The outside is some pink wool that I bought a 1/2 yard of recently. Finding wool felt for crafts is difficult, or at least expensive. So I was happy to find this, it's a felted wool that you buy from the bolt and there were a few colours but not many. It costs $14/yard so it's much cheaper than buying little squares. And of course the craft felt that most stores sell is acrylic. It doesn't feel as nice plus it tends to pill if it gets any wear. An even better way to find wool to sew with is from thrifting, either wool sweaters you can felt or even better, a wool blanket such as the one Blair made her beautiful Finny and Skinny from.
The second bag topic is the green acorn bag. I had a question about it, but I couldn't reply directly because there was no email address. I was excited to get a comment from Finland - home of the Moomins! To answer your question, the bag is 9 1/2" x 9 1/2" with a 2" wide strap. The strap is 30" long above the bag. The strap is all knit, so it stretches a bit so you should make it a bit shorter than you actually want it to end up being. I don't remember which needle size but I know it was a bit smaller than the recommended size so that it would be snug.
The yarn is quite special, it's called Trend Collection Linie 82 Mistral and I think I ended up using four 50 gram balls. You could use anything though, and just make a swatch to see how many stitches you'll need. I did stockinette for the main bag, with 6 rows of garter at the top so it wouldn't curl too much. Here's a detail of the yarn:
I hope this is helpful, of course if you make the bag, I'd love to see it.
The other question was about the retro knitting bag pattern. The original post seems to have disappeared and I don't like to post it since it's not my pattern. But I will scan my printout and if anyone wants to email me directly I will send it to you. As always I'd like to see it if anyone else makes it.
And finally here is the progress report for the Knitting Olympics. I've finished the bottom of the bag, picked up stitches all around and started to knit up. It was pretty difficult actually. I had to count the stitches over and over. Plus I don't have any stitch markers so I was using paperclips! 
And here is a peek at Bradley's Knitting Olympics mittens that he's making for me. Isn't it beautiful? I can't wait to wear them!
4 comments:
Wow - you have been busy. Love the wool felt. Although pricy, at least you are able to get hold of it.
I haven't managed to track it down over here in the UK yet.
ooh i love that camera bag - i smell bday present for my sister. when you say quilted, do you mean it has batting between the layers, or did you actually quilt it?
also, can i ask where you found the wool felt? i've been thinking about picking up some myself lately....
In between the layers I put quilt batting that comes in a sheet, so it's about 2mm thick. I found that at a quilting store up north. I cut it without a seam allowance so there isn't too much bulk at the seams because the wool is already quite thick. Then I basted it in place while I sewed the seams. I never baste, but this project was actually a bit difficult because of the thickness of the wool - that's why the top edges are just stitched to the lining, not hemmed.
I found the felted wool at a store called Affordable Textile at 531 Queen W. I looked at the bill, and the .5 yard was $7.50 plus tax. It was in the back of the store on the right, but the girl who works there was helpful and showed me. They didn't have very many colours.
Other stores in that fabric district might have it too.
hey thanks so much for the instructions and tips - and sorry for the delay in relaying appreciation - i have been a bit internet challenged with work busyness, etc.
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