knit? i sew!

Much of my week last week was taken up with sewing instead of knitting. Now, I only have very basic sewing skills, as in, I can make a straight seam. My mum bought me a sewing machine as a wedding present, and I’ve always wanted to learn to sew “someday”. So after much procrastination I joined sew? I knit! with their quilted item theme and whipped this up last week:

It’s a quilted drawstring bag for Annette to bring her lunch, snacks, etc. I couldn’t find a pattern for the type of quilted bag that I was after, so I followed bits of this tutorial for a drawstring backpack (the “Mama Backpack”), with some modifications. It’s a good tutorial, has good pictures to illustrate the steps, and good cear instructions. My modifications were that I didn’t make it into a backpack and added a strap instead, and I added a batting between the outer fabric and the lining. I also made the bag smaller, to be more “Annette-sized”, rather than “Mama-sized”.

As for the outside of the bag, the inspiration came from this and this. I’m very much inspired by the beautiful crafted things in Japanese craft books and magazines that I’ve seen around the Internet. I love how their designs are so clean and simple and so charming at the same time.

After seeing this bag, Belinda pointed me to this pic. How cute is that!! A coordinated set of bags!

Well, one thing I learned while working on this bag, was that, while sewing might be faster than knitting, there’s so much planning time that goes into it. Drafting the pattern (if you don’t have one already), transfering the pattern to fabrics, cutting the fabric, pinning fabric together, basting, etc — before you get to actually make things. But I guess the good thing is, after you’ve done it once or twice, they start to fall into place. I’ve always held much respect and admiration for those who can sew to make things, whether it be clothes, softies, bags, quilts, etc. After this experience I think my respect and admiration for them go a little bit higher.

Other quilted things that I’d like to try: Quilted water bottle carrier by Pink Chalk Studio, and the Log Cabin pillow (inspired by Belinda’s one).