Bag #1

I didn't mean this one to be anything more than an experiment. I wanted to try metallic thread and play around with my sewing machine tension. So I just started playing on a piece of old felt, doing zig-zags and applique with some squares cut from a fabric selvedge.

But then I thought I might as well finish it.

It's just a bit bigger than a paperback book; the sort of bag you'd take with you if you were going out for the night and wanted a small bag with just enough room for your mobile phone, keys, lipstick and cash.

The front's made from bits and pieces from things like a Thai cushion and an old kimono, and the back panel is just one rectangle of black silk from the lining of an old obi.

I lined it with two pieces of cotton from my stash, and put in a phone pocket on one side:

and a zippered pocket on the other.

The pocket lining is weird, huh? I like my zippered pockets to have a little surprise inside, as you can tell from this one:

When it was finished, I showed it to Will (my style counsel) who examined it closely and didn't like it at all. The felt was cheap-looking, the machine embroidery too irregular, the silver metallic thread too sparkly, the whole thing too wonky. Sigh ... he's right! But he liked the inside. And: "You've made better, Mum. Much better."

I enjoyed playing around with it, though, and making it has given me lots of ideas for bag #2 and #3.

Papercut today.

:: Just bragging. I got 140 points for this word, 'bleaters', in Scrabble (the facebook app one)!

Two triples and a seven-letter bingo with a 50-point bonus! However, my opponent, Yagya, from India, is still beating me in this game. She is GOOD!