Skip to main content

Birch Progress & Some Sewing


WEEKENDER BAG With all the knitting and summer laziness, I've let Amy Butler's Weekender Bag pattern collect dust since I bought it back in February. Sad, huh? I guess you can say I have issues. I've been sewing forever, long before I ever started knitting, but I NEVER use patterns. I've never found patterns to match the idea in my head, so I've always just used the trial and error method. It's always worked out for me. Now that I'm trying out a pattern, it's not the sewing that's bringing me down but the pattern itself. I feel like I have to learn a new language. All that said, after seeing this pattern I have to at least try. So I went out and bought some materials (can I just say I spend an hour at Joann's yesterday?):

-2 yards, Amy Butler's Sunbloom Lotus fabric in Parsley purchased from Reprodepot for exterior and hopefully handles and piping (I thought I could find a perfect match for a coordinating fabric, but these colors are impossible! I ordered a half yard extra, so I'm hoping that's enough)

- 2 yards, heavyweight cotton (with hideous eyelet to be discarded) for lining

- 4 yards Peltex. The pattern calls for heavyweight interfacing (which the saleswoman in Joann's said was Peltex) and Timtex (which many replace with Peltex). There was no interfacing nearly as thick as the Peltex, so I opted to use Peltex for everything. Cross your fingers I don't kill my sewing machine.

-5 yards cotton cording

- A 30" zipper. I had one choice. I think it's close enough.

- A couple spools of thread.

Wish me luck!

BIRCH I've been making some progress with Birch v. 2 and am halfway through the 5th repeat. Here's a picture. I'm all about class when it comes to project bags.

5 repeats doesn't sound like much, but I'm sure I'll just fly through it as the rows get shorter. Wishful thinking? Regardless of how much more I have to go, I WILL finish this before I see my mom next! I'm not sure when that will be, but I know I will see her on November 5th (the day I run the NYC Marathon!) I hope to see her before then, though. Anyway, I'm devoting about 80% of my knitting time to this project; it would be 100% but I refuse to touch Birch if my mind is not 100% clear. I have the pattern down, but still want to avoid any mistakes. Tinking back with KSH gives me anxiety.

That's all for now. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Comments

Stacey said…
Hopefully you and the pattern will produce something wonderful! :)
10:00 AM
craftoholic said…
You'll do fine on the Weekender, just be patient;-)
Peltex is different from heavy-weight sew-in interfacing (which is used to line the top zipper parts and side panels; it feels almost like a flannel sheet)
I had to go to a different/regular fabric shop in order to buy the h/w interfacing as JoAnn's had only Peltex and different types of iron-on interfacing. Just something to remember if the Peltex gives you grief on those parts. I love the fabric you chose!
12:41 PM
Melissa said…
good luck with both projects. at least you took the time to purchase the stuff for the weekender, i never got past the pattern! oh well, someday.
8:10 PM
Elizabeth said…
I lurve the Weekender Bag - would love to make one. That lotus blossom fabric is gorgeous, too. It'll turn out great - you'll see.
10:36 AM
Anonymous said…
I have this inner desire to sew, but I agree with you about patterns not matching what's in the head. The weekender bag looks like it'll be very cute though!

Can't wait to see birch!
1:02 PM
lobstah said…
Hey I forgot to answer your question ...the yarn I used for Trellis is the yarn I bought for Toledo. But after looking at that design I decided it probably wouldn't look that good on me, hence the change in use for the yarn!
10:50 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Box Bag Tutorial

A couple of you inquired whether I made this pouch based on a tutorial or pattern and if not, if I could provide one. Ask and you shall receive! I've learned so much from tutorials out on the internets, I'm happy I can give back for once. Bear with me, though. This is my first tutorial and creating one is much tougher than I imagined. I give anyone who's created a tutorial tons of credit! I feel obligated to preface this by admitting I'm a trial and error sewer. I make things up as I go along and test things during the sewing process to see if I'm achieving my desired results. Also, I taught myself to sew just playing around on a sewing machine, so I don't always use text book methods. Just wanted come clean before you all jump into this and so you have a little understanding if I did something in a backass way. The pattern works, which is all that matters to me! Because of the versatility of this pattern, my instructions can be used more as guidelines. You can ...
66 comments
Read more

Done: Weekender Bag

Happy 2007! I hope you all had a good time ringing in the new year. I have some lofty goals for this upcoming year and some musings on last year, but that's for another post because-- Finally! (the top looks kind of bumpy. I think it looks crisper when I'm holding it.) Pattern. Weekender Bag by Amy Butler Exterior Fabric. Amy Butler, Sunbloom Collection Cording Fabric. Amy Bulter, Charm Collection Lining. Khaki Fabric from Joann's I relied a lot on the tips from other bloggers who made this bag and wanted to give something back to the blogging community, so here are my.... 10 THOUGHTS & TIPS ON THE WEEKENDER 1. Dominating the cording. As the layers increased in the sewing, keeping the cording sandwiched in place became challenging. I had the best luck pinning the fabric together parallel to the fabric edge, rather than perpendicular. Stopping so often to remove pins got a little annoying, but was better than ripping and resewing. 2. Topstitching = Enemy number 1. I d...
12 comments
Read more

Norwegian Stockings

I finished my Norwegian Stockings on Monday... Here they are! NOTES: Pattern: Norwegian Stockings, Folk Socks by Nancy Bush Yarn: Dale Baby Ull, 2 skeins chocolate brown (3172), 1.5 skeins sage green (9436), just enough for snowflakes off white (0020). Needles: Size 2, 40" Addis Dates Knit: February 13, 2006 - March 13, 2006 Modifications: As Eunny and Jess did, I went down a needle size and subbed Baby Ull for Heilo. Notes: It's been said before, but I'll say it again... what a great pattern. Extremely well written, memorizable (is that a word?), and interesting from cast on to cast off. Usually I get sick of projects about halfway through, but trudge through for the cherished FO. With these, I was entertained the entire process and am itching to cast on for some more fair isle. I'm hooked. It feels weird to only knit with one hand! I used magic loop, which kept me sane. I like dpns, but I would have a nervous breakdown if any stitches slipped off ... I'm ...
12 comments
Read more