Knitted bag: After!

Ok, so the Toronto Craft Alert Get Er Done Giveway worked. I finished the lining for my knitted bag yesterday. I also worked out a way to line a bag like this with a handle as part of the main shape, so I can show you that too. I think that was the main reason I was procrastinating... I wasn't sure at first how to do it.

First of all, this is why you have a stash. I was able to just rummage through my fabric to find one that would work. I wanted one with some stiffness to offset the floppiness of a knitted bag and give it some structure. I chose a pink upholstery fabric that went with the colours in the bag and had a pretty motif of bunches of white daisies.
So I cut out the main lining piece, attached a pocket to it, hemmed the top ends of it and sewed the sides together.Then I cut two strips for the top part, folded them in half lengthwise and sewed them together. This creates a strip with a finished edge to be the top part of the lining. As you can see in the picture the back of the fabric has a lot of threads for the daisy embroidery, so this helps prevent snags as well.
These are the finished strips.

Then I turned the bag inside out with the main part of the lining pinned in place and the top strips pinned in place. Then hand sewed the strips to attach them to the main part of the lining, except for the areas where the gap was for the handles. Then I hand sewed around the handle gap and around the top of the bag to attach the lining.

It's hard to describe but hopefully you can kind of see what's going on in the picture:And now it's finally done! I have too many bags now so this one may make an appearance at the Hunt & Gather Trunk Show...

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I love a lattice

I was inspired recently by some lovely (men's) wool scarves I saw at Banana Republic made from thick yarn and so big you feel like you're wearing a blanket. I wanted a very very cosy warm scarf for the coldest days this winter. Bradley put a skein of this gorgeous yarn (Sultra, 60% Merino wool, 20% Alpaca, 20% Silk) in my Christmas stocking, so I went to Romni and bought a few more skeins to make the scarf.

I started with a cable knit (pictured on the right), but I don't really like how it turned out. So I rummaged through my knitting books and found another stitch. I love a lattice (as in mullioned windows, patterns for paper and fabric etc), and I think this stitch is perfect. The scarf curls a bit at the sides but I'm hoping I can block it flat.

I recommend occasionally learning a new knitting stitch as it can keep you from being bored with knitting and you never know when you might use it. So here's the stitch:

Cross-Stitch Diamond/Lattice pattern
Multiple of 6 sts plus 2
All even-numbered Rows: purl all sts

Row 1: K3, *Cross R, K4* (repeat between the stars until the last 3 stitches), K3
Row 3: *K2, Cross R, Cross L* (repeat between the stars until the last 2 stitches), K2
Row 5: K1, *Cross R, K2, Cross L* (repeat between the stars until the last stitch), K1
Row 7: *Cross R, K4* (repeat between the stars until the last 2 stitches), Cross R
Row 9: K1, *Cross L, K2, Cross R* (repeat between the stars until the last stitch), K1
Row 11: *K2, Cross L, Cross R* (repeat between the stars until the last 2 stitches), K2

Cross R: Put the right needle through the 2nd stitch on the left, K the stitch but don't slip it off, K the 1st stitch on the left needle and slip both stitches off
Cross L: Put the right needle through the 2nd stitch on the left from around the back, K the stitch but don't slip it off, K the 1st stitch on the left needle

And while you're at it, I recommend trying cables too if you haven't yet. It really is much easier than it looks. Really.

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Lattice cork board

This is my current WIP - a white wool felted purse knitted up with moss stitch. The fabric in the picture is going to be the lining.

The other project I just finished is for the sewing corner - a lattice covered cork board. I see these in magazines all the time and decided to finally make one after finding a cork board at Goodwill for $0.99.
The first stage was to cover it with fabric. The frame was too securely attached to remove, so I had to find a way to attach the fabric and still have it look tidy. I used a light blue cotton cut to the same size as the frame. Then I used a pencil to mark the dimensions of the cork part.
The pencil line marks the hem allowance which you fold over. Then you pin the fabric in place and make sure it's tidy and even all the way around. I used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the cork.
The last part is the lattice. (I wonder why I love lattices so much?) The little white bookshelf has a lattice inset too, so it's kind of a theme in that corner. I made the cork board lattice by marking off even intervals then pinning bias tape in place with silver tacks.

The bias tape is single fold, which works best. (I just found out the difference myself - previously I'd only bought double fold which wouldn't have looked quite right for this project.) Also, the tape is cut on the bias of course, which means it has a little bit of stretch, so after pinning it snugly in place, it will hold your odds and ends without the need of extra pins.
Here it is in the sewing corner - I also added a hook to the wall for my aprons. I think I'm finally done now! Thank you all so much for all the comments on my crafts corner, I'm happy to have inspired so many people, because I think every crafter should have their own little corner to work in.

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