Lucky Last Veggie Bag

I stitched the first of these bags back in November 2024 and have been using it as my main shopping bag ever since. To be absolutely sure it is a tough as I believe, I threw it in the washing machine on the weekend. It came out clean and undamaged.

While I complained at the time about the difficulty of stitching through tough canvas, the utility of the finished bag won me over and I ordered two more as gifts. One, that featured flowers rather than vegetables, was completed and gifted in August 2025. This month I have been stitching the third, back to the original vegetables,  for a family member’s birthday.

It uses a very small selection of stitches, mostly stem and straight stitch, with a little bit of buttonhole and French knots. The heavy canvas does not accommodate much more. 

I began with greens. The kit provides only 3 shades. This time I was less concerned about working out the recommended combinations. The instructions, like the stitches and threads, are minimal, so I got the general idea and winged it. Seems to have worked.

I used a 12” hoop to get as many of the 20 vegetables on as possible. Some placements tested the capacity of the hoop, because, with embroidery close to the bag edge, the hoop had to accommodate the thickness of the strap. You can see the outer ring is not fitting completely over the inner one. Nevertheless, it held tight.

The fun one, of course, is the corn, with a hundred or so French knots. I struggled a bit to choose the colours for the garlic.I was tempted to introduce the mauve, but stuck, in the end, with the suggested palette. There is, I think, too much brown on the parsnips, the tan colour night have been better - or just more of the beige. While they are recognisably vegetables, it might take a bit of guessing to arrive at parsnip. 

The biggest challenge was perhaps the leek. I downloaded a couple of photos but really needed a few in-between shades to get the colour gradation right.

I reckon it looks fine on the finished bag, which will be seen, noticed, but not scrutinised.

I hope the bag proves as useful to the recipient as mine is to me. It is for everyday use, to bring cheer and help with one of the most mundane of tasks.

All hail the bag! I love it.