10 Bag Days

After the success of my Christmas fabric bags, I remembered that I had also purchased 2 other tubs of fabric offcuts from the Guild trading table - one of green coloured fabric, and one of checks and tartans.

As the year drew to an end,  I   rolled my eyes and wondered if, on a bag roll, I could use the fabric up before 2023.  The attraction of one tub had been the pieces of gingham it contained. I enjoy embroidering gingham, so set those pieces aside - to maybe make gingham lace (chicken scratch) aprons, table cloths or, yes, bags. 

The remaining tartans, and the greens were of various sizes and shapes. I got to work with my scissors and cut all of them into bags - 125 of them. 

Madwoman.

Amongst the green collection was a  piece of patchwork (top left) just waiting to be turned into a bag. It also reminded me that I could turn any left-over strips of fabric into patchwork. The lower two photos are the result. The one on the right is quite large - around 40cmx60cm.

As the pieces were probably the remnants of quilting projects, a few were odd shapes.  Bags don't need to be standard.

Unlike the Christmas fabric, which was in significant lengths, these greens and tartans were smaller and more varied. Only a couple of the resulting bags are large. The majority are medium sized and there are probably around 25 that are quite small - jewellery size.

I worked them as a production line for one worker. I cut them all out into the most efficient sized bag . The next day I ironed them all - ironing in the seams and hems. It took several days to machine them into bags. I stitched about  15 bags in an hour to an hour and a  half. I worked them in batches of around that number.

Once I had about 50 bags, I spent an hour or so choosing drawstrings from my ribbon and cord stash. I was in danger of running out, but Katherine came to my rescue with her substantial ribbon stash, which is now severely depleted.

Before long I had a pile of bags waiting for stops to be put on the end of the cords, a pile waiting for the cords to be threaded and a pile waiting to be machined, giving me a choice of activity each day. 

This kept me busy for 10 days - with breaks for reading, shopping, washing, catching up with friends and family, or taking photos. 

I didn't quite make my 2022 finishing goal. I wasn't tempted to push the envelope. It's been a good holiday activity. I enjoy it - and the end was in sight. 

I put the final touches on today - and did a bit of reorganising to clear a big red storage tub, which now holds the 125 bags - quite a good supply. Except for the gingham. all the trading table fabric is used up. 

Now I need to resist the temptation to buy any further bargain fabric from the Guild's trading table. After all, I still have drawers of my own left-over fabrics, without buying someone else's! 

I enjoy making bags, I like recycling and family are very welcome to any bags I have in store.  

Now it's back to my knitting. Oh, and there's the gingham......