on bags

A bag for my lovely friend Emily.

I seem to make her a bag every year (2007 2008 2009...) and as I had this upholstry weight floral Cath Kidson fabric I thought why should this year be any different. A girl can never have too many bags right. And the more I sew the more I learn and the more I think I can do better than the bag I made before. So, sorry Emily, you are the recipient of the evidnece of my learning curve ;)

The design for this bag just seemed to come together one day, as these things sometimes do. I saw a bag with a woven strap (on the street, on the internet, who knows where) and when I was thinking about a present for Emily that image popped into my head, and it seemed to suggest a curved bag, to follow the line of the strap. So I cut out some shapes, a front and a back and a flap and a gusset, and sewed them together with thinking about it all too much. Kind of like having an image of a finished thing in my head, then closing my eyes and moving towards it without worrying about going of the track. A kind of intuition? Of having had enough sewing go wrong to get a certain feel for the right direction? Certainly a feeling of freedom that could perhaps get quite addictive.

I just looked back through my archives, looking for a bag I'd made in the past to compare this one to and realised I've actually made quite a few... Perhaps all this bag making practice is starting to sink in...

more spots

I think sometimes that I have a lot to say; a lot of thoughts and words, when I've got a problem, when I'm feeling down or annoyed or fed up. I can go on for ever analysing my feelings, pondering... And sometimes I think I forget to notice when I'm feeling happy and enjoying life. Perhaps it's because I'm off doing things and don't have time to dwell, perhaps it's because I don't want to jinx it (oh, I'm such an optimist you know!) perhaps it's because I don't want to sound all smug, but anyway... today I have decided to make a point of saying I think I'm feeling pretty good!


I had a nice week last week to spend time to myself, and get on with what ever it is I like to do, bit of sewing, walking, reading (watching rubbish uncool TV without my boyfriend turning it over...) I got to spend lots of time with my dog and all the chickens and generally get back to nature a bit. When ever I spend any amount of time back home I come back thinking I can't live in the city that much longer. Anyway.



Yesterday I went back home again for my sister's birthday tea party. I've got quite a big family, lots of aunties and uncles, 10 cousins, and we always get together for birthdays. Nothing fancy, just tea and cakes. I'm the youngest on my dad's side of the family and oldest on my mum's, so there was always lots of people to play with growing up, but when my youngest cousin turned 15 four years ago it seemed that perhaps we were a family of adults now. It all got a bit civilised! No more fashion shows with clothes from the dressing up box, no more treasure hunts in the garden, no more general bossing about of my cousins...



But yesterday I arrived late (after missing my train, by about 3 seconds, why are they never on time when you're there early?!) to find a house full of kids again. 5 to be exact, and 2 babies. And I suddenly realised that the apparent adultness in my family was just a few years whilst everyone got old enough to have babies! Hurray! So I had a lovely evening playing games and chasing chickens and pulling silly faces at babies (and I tried not to boss them all about too much...) It was a total mad house but definitely great fun.



And I think Amy (my sister) liked the bag I made her, an adaptation of this. This time I wanted the bag to be less wide and more tall, I changed the front to just one big pocket with a button to keep it shut, and I added an inside pocket. The more sewing I do the more I enjoy it. Yes I definitely must make one of these bags for myself!