It's in the Bag

I failed miserably at taking photos of family that came to visit over the last couple of weeks, which is terrible since I only get to visit with some of them only once a year.  Our kids grow and noticeably chance over the course of a year and it is hard for them to sometimes remember who is who, or which cousin belongs to which cousin.  Maybe I'll get that right next Christmas. 

What I DID manage to take pictures of was some of my post-holiday yarn projects.  My inspiration came by way of a new knitting pattern book.  I dug out my yarn stash from the closet and after making a mental inventory, I jumped in with both needles or hook in this case.  I couldn't justify buying yarn (I know some of you are scratching your heads or laughing at me now.) when I had more than a few unfinished projects and lots of leftover yarn.  I chose to pick up an old rug project that didn't get finished through 2 moves, a new marriage and a new home which the rug no longer coordinated with. 

I crocheted some sides to allow more space in the bag and handles.  I dug through the material stash and found some coordinating red and green fabric to make a lining.  I can't decide if I need to add fabric to the backside of the handles to prevent stretching yet.  I have never run yarn through my sewing machine, but I am leaning toward maching stitching the lining to the bag and then crocheting the bag together in pieces.  Comments leaving tips or cautions are most welcome!  I doubt I get to putting the bag together until later in the week, possibly even next week.

During the month of November, I instructed some newbie crocheters to make washclothes.  I ended up with a lot of leftover cotton yarn so I decided to put together a bag I'd found in a Lion Brand Yarn newsletter.  (I've linked it in my Pinterest boards.  You can also search the Lion Brand Yarn website for "hexagon bag" pattern.  The pattern is free, but you may have to create an account.) 

Piecing the hexagons

Finished hexagon bag


My last bag project isn't really a bag, but instead tags for bags.  Our family uses cloth bags in Christmas prints for gift giving in lieu of wrapping paper and boxes and paper gift bags.  They are reusable.  We have to use tags so that we know what gift goes to whom.  I was absent-minded and did not take a clear photo of the original tags, but they are plain red with red satin ribbons tied through holes to then loop through themselves to attach to the bag.  Each tag has a person's name written with permanent marker in the "TO" and other tags in the "FROM".  For example:  TO:  B  FROM: J Viola!  Bag tagged and ready to give.  The problem became giving gifts to people who did not have a pre-fab tag, the genesis of my sewing project yesterday.

Tagless bags
 

Detail around cutout

Finished bag

The tags are far from fancy, but I had fun making them and being creative.  I feel industrious and frugal.  What is the downside to spending the afternoon sewing just for fun?