All change

I can't believe I've not done anything creative since June. Well, perhaps I can. The weather had been so nice I seem to recall that I was making the most of it and also getting organised to go on holiday. But that is all now a distant memory thanks to the dip in temperatures, the arrival of rain and the fact that I managed to pick up a cold on the flight home from sunnier climes and so have spent the week cowering indoors, sneezing and blowing my nose.

It was largely to do with this depressing reintroduction to the UK that I decided to reacquaint myself with my most recent creative project, which had been lying unfinished for some eight weeks. I had ceased work because I needed a couple of zips but I actually managed to get them fairly easily, so they too had been sitting around for about seven weeks. No more excuses - the project was to be finished this weekend!

The project was, in my head at least, called 'The Orange Bag', which was being fashioned from an old mohair wrap cardigan that found itself in the wrong washing machine cycle and no longer fitted me. This had been created but, by my own admission, was looking fairly ragged. The next step was to create a lining for the bag and this was to have all the helpful pockets and pouches in order to keep my things in order and, importantly, easy to find. I'd planned this all out and cut out the fabric so the first thing to do was begin construction.

Not having any instructions to follow and being a bit rusty, this took me a good few hours as I tried to recall my original plan and execute it. However, shortly after lunch I was very pleased with the lining I had created.

On one side I had inserted a small, flush zipped pocket with three pouches in front.

I had decided to leave the bag with an open top so for added security I had decided to make another zipped pocket, this time using the whole of the other side of the bag lining.

The next step was to insert the lining into the bag. However, this is where the whole plan fell apart. It fitted, of sorts, but my grand ideas of using the curved edge of the original cardigan to add a feature to the front of the bag, with the lining making up the difference with a flash of contrasting texture and colour. I just couldn't get it to work. The lining was so pristine and beautiful I also didn't really feel it worked with the fluffy, soft, rather more organic fabric of the cardigan.

I therefore had a bit of a rethink, delved through the fabric box and came up with some denim that toned with the orange striped lining and added a fun and casual element to the whole thing. So, it was all change! In no time at all I had whipped up a new outer shell from the denim, along with a shoulder strap and put all the elements together.
 

The full length zip so close to the top edge of the bag meant that I couldn't top stitch around the top opening of the bag to anchor the two elements of fabric together as I would normally have done but felt it needed a something to finish it off. I opted to add a small running stitch by hand to the top opening and the handle using a twin strand of dark orange embroidery thread.

I am very pleased with the finished bag and am still referring to it as 'the orange bag', which is really rather pushing the description.  I'm desperate to show it off but feel that I need to get back to more casual days out to show it off. It feels eminently large enough for my usual bits and pieces but will also fit a book/kindle and water bottle, perhaps even a small lunch box. However, if I'm out having such a leisurely day, when am I going to have time for all my other creative projects?

I guess if you don't hear from me for another eight weeks you can guess what I'm up to!