Wattle Tote

I’m making an effort, in between knitting projects, to diminish the pile of Ink and Spindle linen bags I have cut out. I began with this heavyweight Golden Wattle on Indigo 

My idea with all these bags is to embroider a couple of highlights but let the hand-printed linen speak for itself.

In this case I planned to cover some of the wattle bloom with Ghiordes knots. For those unfamiliar,  Ghiordes knots are made by creating and anchoring a series of loops close together then cutting the loops. 

The fun part is fluffing up the cut threads.

Creating the loops is exacting, and, to me, a bit tiresome on scale. I was pleased to get to the end of the small bunch I’d chosen.

The threads need to be brushed up with a small stiff brush. When I first worked these, some 15 years ago, I bought a boo-boo stick - a brush designed for removing mistakes in cross-stitch. It’s a while since I used it, and I couldn’t find it. It’s in that safe place.  They are hard to come by in Australia. I’ve ordered another one from Tasmania, a guarantee the original one will turn up!

In the meantime. I found an adequate substitute in the brush end of a dressmaker"s pencil.

Ink and Spindle linen comes in three weights, and I use all three for these bags. This one is heavyweight, which does give a lovely firm surface to work with.

I have a big pile of these bags waiting to be made, all cut out ready to construct once the embroidery is done. I cut according to the shape of the piece, which in this case was separate front, back and sides for the outside, but the lining was cut with the front and sides on one piece and the back and bottom on the other. It took me a while to figure it out! The strip left for handles was a bit thin, so I substituted some denim.

Once I figured all that out, it took under an hour to stitch the bag together on the machine.

I tested the result out on a couple of family members. As I feared they thought there should be a little more embroidery, suggesting  the lower right-hand corner.

I was inclined to agree.  While not ideal, it was possible to embroider through the layers of bag and lining, so I did. It won't hurt to hold the two layers of linen together there near the base.

It's a definite improvement. I'm now pretty satisfied with this one. 

I have no specific purpose in mind. No one I know needs another Ink and Spindle tote - but I'll add it to my stock, which will find a good home one day.

Flannel Flower Tote in Fennel & Saltbush

 

This is the second colour way I bought of the Ink and Spindle Flannel Flower line. This is a mid-weight linen, a little lighter than the Spice but still sturdy.

I picked perle 5 threads in greens, cream, yellow and blue, trying to capture the colour of the actual flannel flower.  It's illusive. The overall sense, in my memory, is of slightly misty green.

This time I worked two centres on each side, mainly because the flowers on this print were more evenly distributed, and I thought two provided better balance.

I tried different combinations and stitching order on each one. At the moment this is an exercise in experimentation.

In the top left, I began with a yellow centre in each of the printed bluey circles, then worked out using a green thread with a fair amount of blue, adding in cream and another green to fill gaps. In the lower right I used much the same threads, but worked yellow and cream first, then added in green and a little blue. 

The other two used two shades of green more on the yellow end. I don't have a preference, and I suspect that Flannel Flowers probably vary as much as my experiments!

I made this one up using a cream linen, very close to the colour of the petals for the sides, base and lining.

Again, I used the square size, almost 40cm square. It's a good size to work with, and   means I can cut four bags from the piece of fabric I ordered, as long as I use a plain fabric for sides and base.

This is not as bold as the first bag in Spice, but it does have a calming feel and a quiet charm - a bit like a Flannel Flower!

And yes, it looks as if there will be a few more to come, with a bit of variation. I have a charity event in mind, as well as gifts - and maybe the Guild SALA Exhibition. As well as enjoyment in the making.

Flannel Flower tote

My apologies for a font variation in this post which I have been unable to resolve. 

Ink and Spindle recently released a new linen, printed this time with flannel flowers. 

Actinotus helianthi, for readers outside Australia, are native to our East Coast, particularly around the Sydney area. The flowers are usually 5-8 cm across and have a furry texture - a bit like flannel. The centres appear greenish from a distance and the leaves grey. On close inspection they have blue, yellow, grey and beige elements. They were very much part of my childhood and I have always loved them.

Ink and Spindle have produced this linen in several colour ways and I bought two of them with a view to making tote bags. 

I wanted to add a little embroidery, but not much, to keep the beauty of the linen print to the fore. I thought I would just embroider one flower centre on each side and checked lots of photos of flannel flowers online first to decide what threads to use. 

To my surprise, I discovered there is a pink flannel flower, Actinotus forsythii, which I have never seen. It is less common, but germinates in strength after fire, and has been prolific in the Blue Mountains since the 2020 fires.

I decided to use this as my colour way for the Spice linen piece and the conventional greeny colours for the other piece. 

French knots were a no-brainer, so I used various shades of pink perle 5 cotton to embroider one centre. I began in a very literal manner, using the printed pattern and working from a dark centre to lighter in the background.  While I was pleased with the result, a closer look at photographs suggested the colours weren't as ordered as that, so I varied the arrangement when I tackled the other side.

This got closer to the photographs but it still misses the hazy effect. The dark centres are also still too regulated. Variegated thread might work if I found the right range. This doesn't need to be realistic but it's satisfying to keep experimenting.

I did most of this stitching at night, and found the directional light I recently bought at Aptos Cruz was very helpful in this detailed colour work.

I stuck with my notion of only embroidering one centre on each side of the bag. I found some plain linen to both line and create handles, sides and base.  Construction was straightforward, particularly as I was able to use a single strip for the sides and base.  

I'm delighted with this result. I think the colours work well and the single centre embroidery feels right to me.

This bag is also squarer than I usually make - cut a little shorter in length to accommodate the fabric cut. I really like the shape. It is still practical and certainly fits this design. I have enough linen to make two bags this size in each colour. It might even become my default.

I'm now turning my attention to the other colour way, what Ink and Spindle call 'Flannel flower in Fennel and Saltbush'. 

                            

Botanica Linen Bag

Early in December I bought a remnant of linen, Botanica in Earth  from Ink and Spindle. The remnant was 70x40cm, the perfect size for a tote bag. 

Although it was a single pattern piece, I was able to cut it fairly neatly into two to form the sides of a bag.

This is really beautiful linen, heavy weight, designed for upholstery, woven in Belgium, dyed and printed in Melbourne. The design is so lovely it seemed a shame to embroider it.

Eventually I decided to use one colour, one thread, and to embroider just one plant on each side of the bag. The colour choice was easy. The waratah, grevillea and gum blossom all come in reds. I used perle 8 in a couple of shades of red. 

I began with the Waratah, whose petals screamed bullion knots. Some embroiderers avoid them, but I'm OK with them. It took  thought and couching to get the shapes, and the final few required me to find a  long upholstery needle to manage the 30-40 wraps to get the length.  I got the texture I was after.

While I didn't want to embroider all the leaves, I felt the centre of the bloom needed a focus, so I tried green in between the printed lines, leaving the outlines. This didn't work at all, so in the end I filled green over the lines. It's far from perfect but has the visual impact I wanted, while reinforcing my belief I should not try to 'colour in' the print. This was enough highlight for one side.

On the other side I worked the grevillea with pistol stitch - again, the plant dictated the stitch.

This was an easier task. By the time I finished I had decided to add a second touch to this side. 

French knots on the gum blossoms seemed a no-brainer.

I did, however, stop there.

The length of the front and back gave me a couple of inches to fold in for the base, otherwise the bag would have been inconveniently deep. I found a couple of pieces of linen blend in a colour close enough for the handles to avoid cutting into another metre piece of the lining. These are secured with three layers of stitching, so shouldn’t give way under most weights (nor if they get caught in the door of a moving vehicle or an escalator, which may be less of a good thing).

Construction was easy (not often I say that!) because the fabric was heavy, straight and ironed (not often I say that either!). I had some matching plain linen, lighter weight but still firm and straight, for the sides and lining. No special treatment needed. 

I am very pleased with this result..I think lots of people will like this one and it has potential for a charity auction that is on this year’s calendar.    

Yes, it's true the bird (which Canberra bird-watching friends tell me is a Channel-billed Cuckoo) on the grevillea side lost its head in the hem,  but his mate on the other side came off  triumphant.     

Birthday Bag

Last week I turned my mind to a bag to use as wrapping for Katherine's birthday present. I went through my stash of printed linens and eventually settled on a remnant of Ink and Spindle's  Wrens in Bluestone. This gave me the scope to add some embroidery, in this case, leaves to the number of the birthday

I had an unexpected free day last Friday, so made the most of it embroidering leaves, as well as visiting Create in Stitch. As I had hoped, they had a zip that fitted the pouch I had in mind. They had also advertised some leaf and flower-cup sequins that I wanted to investigate.

I came away with the zip and a life-time supply of sequins.

Blue fairy wrens are mostly ground feeders, but their habitat is amongst flowering gums, as well as grasses. While the sequins don't have stamens like flowering gums, they do have the shape and approximate colour in the light, so I added the number of sequins to fit the birthday.

The next day I emptied my drawer of cotton print fabric. I had lost track of what was in there and past rummaging hadn't improved accessibility.

I found fabric soft enough to work with the linen and,  which was pleasantly associated with Katherine's childhood.

I then created the pouch using the cotton as lining. I did all of it on my machine, except for the turn at the end of the zip, which I finished by hand.

I usually stitch the lining to the zip by hand, but was feeling confident (as, of course, I should, given the number I have made!).

I added the year and our initials in one corner. I used the DMC Etoile for this, but would probably have been better off using linen thread given the amount of shaping required. It is, however, quite readable.

The result was fit for purpose, and appreciated.

When you're on a good thing...

The 90 stars bag worked so well I decided to try a variation, this time for a 20th birthday. While 20 figures are a lot less than 90, I decided to make these all different sea creatures - so increased the challenge, while reducing the number. I had enough of the shells fabric left to make the front of a bag. This time I tried a different construction. I cut two large rectangles, one in the shell fabric and one in a brown linen, joined them, then folded and stitched down sides and a base - a much simpler technique. Because I was experimenting I did the construction first, then the embroidery.

For the most part that worked well. It is a neater result on the corners than I get cutting separate strips for the sides and bottom.

Great care has to be taken in mounting it into a hoop to embroider. It is easy to catch an extra edge of fabric under the hoop, as I discovered to my detriment. 

To begin, I made a sketch of 20 sea-related things I might include. This acted as a rough guide, rather than a blueprint.

I began with a leafy sea dragon.

Then worked whichever took my fancy. 

I really enjoy creating these little figures. It's fun to work out what might fit the project and how to create it. For these I mostly used linen thread, but a bit of variegated stranded as well.

Construction was relatively easy because I had the exterior before stitching. I tried a couple of linings, but settled for the same cotton I had used for the 90th birthday bag, since I had enough and the colours work well.

The back is a light brown linen, one handle is in the linens, one in the cotton lining.

I think it's a useful bag with a bit of a story.

I ordered some more half-metres of Ink and Spindle linens while they were on sale. I seem to now have enough for another 16 bags! Better get designing!