The bright sparks over at Crafteroo organised a challenge with a twist at the end of January, the premise being that members were paired up and had to then produce a gift item utilising both partners’ crafting skills. I was paired up with the very lovely Debbs and we decided that she would make a brooch which could be pinned onto a knitting bag that I’d make but which could also be removed and used elsewhere. This is the final result (with apologies for the not fantastic photograph!)

The bag will be going into the Comic Relief shop on Folksy which is stocked with donated handmade items from Crafteroo members – please have a look! There are some absolutely gorgeous items there from some really talented crafty people.

So what do you think? Would you buy it?

Posted under general crafty updates, sewing

First off, the Time for Tea swap sign-up is now closed! I will be emailing all participants tonight with a questionnaire and I will also email the newer signer-uppers with an invite to the Flickr group where we can share photographs of our works in progress and swap parcels. I’d like to use some of your photographs at the end of the swap so if you’d rather I didn’t, please let me know. Signing up to flickr is not mandatory, just another excuse to get to know each other a little better.

Today’s post is for me to do a little showing off. When I was trying to decide what to make for Annie in the Owl Swap I came up with the idea of a bag she could keep her knitting in. Now for me the critical element in a knitting bag is that it MUST be able to fit my knitting needles in it. Also, personally I don’t like record-style bags – I’d prefer something a little more upright without losing any space. Now with apologies for the less-than-fantastic photographs – this is what I came up with:-

I also liked the idea of being able to close the bag over but still have a little access to the contents, so I made one large strap that can be slung over a shoulder, and another smaller strap for the large strap to go through and hold it closed.

Of course, this bag still had to have some relevance to owls really so I had my first attempt at appliqué. For a first attempt I was pretty pleased with myself although I’d have liked my stitches to be neater.

I only wish I was a neater seamstress because if ONLY I could sew in a straight line, I would make and sell these bags. Ah well, if wishes and all that! What do you think? Would you use it if you were a knitter?

Crafty plans for this week include my first ever attempt at making a cake with fondant icing, a little work on some longies I’m making for the new baby and a start on a couple of patterns from the fantastic Amanda at KitschyCoo. Luckily I will have my partner in crime Kat here to help me out tomorrow. Hooray!

Posted under general crafty updates, sewing, swaps