August 2012 – The Craft Room

Waterproof Seat Pad

I've paused in the recent bag making to tackle the toddler milestone that is toilet training!

And so I found myself in need of some kind of waterproof mat to use in the buggy or on the bus or train to contain any little accidents.

I had all the materials I needed from making other things recently, so measured the buggy as a starting point and away I went!

I used this pretty cotton for the top – fish and whales are quite popular in our house at the moment, so he has an added incentive to want to keep them dry.

Inside is bamboo fleece to absorb any little accidents, a layer of PUL to make it waterproof, and it's backed in fleece.

Here it is all finished and ready to go 🙂

Bags Bags Bags! 4: The crochet owl bag

OK, so this one isn't so new as I've made one before, right back when I learnt to crochet at the start of the year (see here), but I've just finished another one, and it is a bag, so I figure I can add it to my bag list 🙂

This one is for my niece's birthday in a few weeks time. She saw the one I made my sister and requested one of her own for her birthday.

It's actually a little bit smaller than the original. I misread the pattern at the very beginning so there were fewer stitches in each round, but since it's for a little person anyway we'll just pretend that I did that on purpose!

One finished owl bag ready to wrap and post 🙂

Bags Bags Bags! 3: The buttercup bag

Another bag finished today – I think that puts me about a third of the way through my bag to-do list!

This bag has been on my list to make for over a year, when I bought the pattern and the material, and I finally dug it out of the cupboard last week to finish it.

This is another Made by Rae pattern. The original pattern is available free here, and there is also a larger version with a license to sell the bags that you can buy on the site too. This one that I have made is the larger version. The fabric is a Michael Miller print which I bought from an etsy seller.

I made mine with a zip rather than a magnetic clasp (which is what is in the instructions). I’m likely to lose everything in it when I inadvertently turn it upside down without a zip! To put the zip in I used an online tutorial I found here.

I made the buttons to go on the front using some of the material from the lining and a button covering tool:

The inside is spotty, with a little pocket – because you can never have too many pockets!

And this is it from the outside, all finished 🙂

Bags Bags Bags! 2: The out and about hip bag

I told you there’d be more bags didn’t I 🙂

I’ve discovered that for all those people that you don’t know what to buy – a bag is just right!

This one I made for my Mother-In-Law’s birthday. It comes from a pattern shop I found on etsy.

I’m quite impressed with how this one turned out. It’s my first attempt with a zip – so the first time I’ve experimented with the zipper foot on my sewing machine!

Let’s have a look at it:

It has a long strap secured to nice shiny silver D-rings.

It has boxed corners at the bottom.

It has not one zip, but two – one on the top for the main compartment and one into a pocket on the front.

Doesn’t it look cool?! I like it so much I’m going to make myself one – after I finish the long list of other bags on my list! I may end up with quite a bag collection if I carry on like this…

Bags Bags Bags! 1: The show-off bag

I’ve got a long list of bags to make on my to-do list. This was the very first one I’ve made (that’s sewn, I did make the crochet owl bag a while back) but is likely to be first of many bag posts 🙂

I made this bag for my Mum’s birthday (which was yesterday, so it’s safe to post photos now!). I used the Showoff Bag PDF Sewing Pattern which can be purchased from Made by Rae. It took me ages walking round the fabric shop to pick a fabric I though would look good for the big bottom panel, and decided on this pretty bird fabric. The top panel needs to be a thicker material than cotton really and cord was all I had in the cupboard at home. I compared the birdie fabric with lots of colours and the green was the best match, so it’s bright but looks quite good!!

Inside I put a pocket on both sides, and the top is quite simple as it doesn’t have any zip or snap closure.

I learnt quite a few new things along the way: what a baste stitch is, how to box the corners, and that actually, bags aren’t as hard to make as I’d got them down to be 🙂

So here it is, my first bag!