Safe for Knitting

Some weeks you are so busy creating blog-worthy things that you run out of time to take photos and blog about them!  That's what happened to me the last few weeks, as I spent all my time working on costumes for The Pirates of Penzance and never got a chance to show you any of them!  I didn't even get any pictures as I worked, and they're all living in people's dressing rooms at the theatre now.  I'm going to try to get some action shots this week at rehearsals though, so I can show them off here.

In the meantime, I did finish something for myself!  For a while now I've been wanting a bag for my knitting which has no velcro on which to snag things, and finally decided to make one myself.  I rummaged in the stash and came up with nearly everything I needed.  The only materials I bought specifically for this project were the interfacing and the magnetic snap.

I learned how to insert a zippered pocket!  The stitching is a little uneven but not bad for a first attempt. (You may recognise the pocket fabric from a couple of quilt backings in the past...)

I did a search for tote bag tutorials online and found several I liked, from which I combined elements.  The one I followed most closely is this one from Warehouse Fabrics Inc., though I changed most of the measurements and made some other changes as well.  I think I made my bag a couple inches deeper than this one, and I lengthened the straps and made them of two different fabrics (not following the given directions at all), put the zippered pocket on the inside, and changed the dimensions of the other inner pockets.  But I did follow the construction techniques given for most of it and found it quite easy!

The main fabric I got at remnant price at Hobby Lobby - it's a 100% cotton duck (or similar weave) from the home dec. section.  I got over three yards for under twenty dollars and this bag used less than a yard.  The yellow fabric on the inside of the straps is also a cotton duck remnant.  The bag is lined with part of a $2-sheet from the thrift store, and the plaid fabric was a remnant as well (I got it thinking I'd make napkins but there was only enough for three, which is a strange number of napkins, so I re-thought.)  The zipper was salvaged from an old skirt and the button came from a quart jar full of buttons I purchased at an antique mall for about $5.  I did buy heavy-duty interfacing and the magnetic snap.  I think I spent about $16 on those but the snaps were a package of 4 and I have enough of the interfacing for at least two more bags so that cost is fairly low also.   And they were both totally worth the expense.  The interfacing made the bag much sturdier, and the snap will be much more long-wearing than the functioning button and buttonhole I at first intended!

Here it holds three separate knitting projects, my Pirates score, wallet, glasses case, lotion, and a couple other small things and doesn't even look full!

So I have a brand-new sturdy bag which holds all my knitting, a book or so, and has pockets to contain and organize my wallet, my phone, a couple writing implements and any other little odds and ends I might want to cart around with me!  And it probably cost me under $20 and about 4 hours of sewing time.  I've been using it constantly for the last two weeks and it still looks crisp and new (the photos were taken today.)  And it has no parts which will attempt to eat my knitting.  So I call that a success!