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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Peg Bag Construction



The fabrics I chose for the peg bag were a plain garnet-coloured homespun and two pieces of deep red screen-printed fabric designed by Lara Cameron of Ink and Spindle , 'Birch Forest' and 'Bonsai Forrest', both purchased at a Bowerbird Bazaar in Adelaide.

There are a number of Ink and Spindle fabrics using Australian plants that would be great for this bag  but I had Birch and Bonsai in my stash and they worked quite well. I also chose a red webbing rather than the natural colour in Inspirations. I figured it might look better over time.

I made a few changes in the notions as well. Rather than use a metal ring around the top of the bag I used nylon boning which I had to hand. It is lighter, won't rust and keeps the top open quite well.

The other change was to the base. Hettie's Patch, my local quilting shop, didn't have anything recognisable as 'ultra firm double-sided fusible stabiliser' so I substituted plastic canvas. It gives a firm base while allowing any water to drain away easily if the bag gets wet.

Once all the decisions were made the construction flowed fairly smoothly. The screen-printed fabric holds its shape really well, making the scallops quite easy to work with.


The top stands open nicely with the nylon boning.

My only problem was that I mislaid the latch hook I had so carefully purchased from the UK and spent the best part of a day tidying up all my workspaces before finding it on the floor where it had fallen!


I was pleased to use some ceramic buttons I had bought in Hobart on one of my visits about 10 years ago - just about perfect colour.





















I think this is the most satisfying and enjoyable project I have worked on all year.







5 comments:

Katherine said...

i looked at this project in the mag with interest too. i love the fabrics you have chosen for it too. always such beautiful stitching too. katherine

Karyn said...

I think your bag has turned out wonderfully. It is way too pretty to keep outside in the weather though!

Jillian said...

Thanks Girls.
At the moment the bag contains our inside pegs- for use on our Mrs Pegg's line inside the house. Our washing line is technically out of bounds at the moment - our backyard being a building site under the control of the builder. Our washing is mostly being hung on the front verandah!

Jim does most of our washing and hanging out and likes the idea of hanging the new bag over his shoulder. I reckon when we get the line back after the biulding, the bag might go in and out with the washing.

Monica said...

It is excellent! Your fabrics are perfect - you cannot really see the bonsai, but they have just the same visual weight as the stitching. You must have a deep stash of interesting fabrics!

margaret said...

what a wonderful peg bag, glad you cannot see mine!!