4/28/13: Daffodil Time

Finally back and writing up a blog post. If you've been keeping tabs on me you would know that it's been nearly a month since I've posted. April is just whizzing by and I didn't even realize how long my absence has been!

In essence, I've been pottering along in various projects. A little crochet here, a little sewing there, no full-blown projects like the dresses you would find here and here. My sights have been moved towards other aspects of life since then and so I've been gravitating towards crafting that doesn't involve too much thought.

Crochet came to the forefront this month because a crochet-along was in the works. Back in February I started a crochet-along on a ravelry group (found here), and the chosen pattern was the Daffodil Bag designed by Marty Miller. It was featured in the March/April 2013 of Crochet Today magazine and is a great portable design because the bag is comprised of motifs that are later seamed by hand.

[ the original bag featured in the magazine ]

The object for me was to make this bag for Catherine so she could use it as her crochet project bag. This is how it turned out:

The yarn I chose for this bag was your typical go-to acrylic yarns: Red Heart Super Saver and Caron Simply Soft. It's funny to note that the first eight motifs I crocheted turned out to be completely wrong! They looked like this:

[ my motif of embarrassment ]

They should have looked like this:

Reason? Me! I was too much in a rush and didn't take my time to look at my cluster stitches. For some reason I kept on believing that a double crochet stitch was the chain I was suppose to work into. Next time, slower please!

Now about the finishings. I knew from the start that I wanted to line this bag, so Catherine chose a beige colored eyelet fabric we had on hand. Had some oddly shaped pieces to deal with so I had so seam three pieces together to form the lining. Here’s how I made it, step by step.

Found these measurements: Length and width of bag’s bottom. Height of bag (from bottom to highest point). Circumference of bag from the inside.

Bottom: 9” x 9”
Height (highest): 9”
Circumference: 25”

To figure out what fabric pieces to cut, I did some math. I wanted this lining to have its start as a tube. So the finished tube would measure 25” in circumference, and 15-1/2” in height. I arrived at the 15-1/2” measurement by adding the bag’s height (9”) to half of the bottom measurement (4-1/2”).

Added 1/2” seam allowances and 1” hem to all necessary edges.

I cut out the required pieces, seamed them together using a 1/2” seam and I created the lining’s bottom by folding in the sides like you would a Christmas package. I tacked down the folds with machine stitching; right in the area you would use scotch tape on your present.

I inserted the lining into my newly constructed bag and I folded under the top hem so that the fold just meets the crocheted, yellow border on the bag. I pinned the lining in place and slip stitched it to the bag.

[ eyelet lining sewn to top edge of bag using a slip stitch ]

So that’s how I made and inserted the lining. Now about the handles. Crocheted handles tend to stretch out of shape, especially with a heavy load, so I decided to stabilize the handles by machine stitching very narrow twill tape to the side edges. 

[ handles stabilized with twill tape ]

There you have it! Can’t wait to see my sister toting around this bag with crochet hook in hand. I've been teaching her crochet this year and they way she's been catching on, she probably could have finished this bag 2x faster than me. :)

The daffodils are finally blooming in my neck of the woods. . . Happy Spring everybody!