Sunday, March 21, 2010

Happy Spring

Since yesterday was such a fabulous first day of spring I spent some time out in the garden clearing out the remains of last year's growth. I've been thinking about inexpensive ways to keep the weeds from growing between now and when it's time to plant (after Memorial Day).

I also have been looking for uses for cat food bags. I buy large bags of cat food,and the material for the bag is some kind of woven plastic material (like a tarp.) I want make a tote bag out of the stuff, but I can only use so many tote bags. I have a lot more cat food bags than I need.

I decided to try using the cat food bags as my weed barrier. I'm not sure how well they will hold up exposed to the elements. I may end up with a lot of little plastic flakes in my raised bed...

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Ah HA!

I've been thinking about the strap of my bag ever since my last post. I haven't liked the length, but I wasn't sure how long it should be. But how to determine the ideal length? Plus, once I decided how long the strap should be did I really want to have to rip seams to change the length?

Well, I was struck by inspiration this morning. Frustrated with the strap yet again (at the original length it tends to slip off my shoulder) I finally just tied a knot in the end of the strap. Once again I was over looking the simple solution. I'm glad I finally stopped thinking.

[insert picture here, when blogger lets me upload pics]


If I make similar bags in the future I think I might finish off the ends of the straps, without sewing them together. That way I can adjust the bag as often as I want.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

First steps in sewing

My high hopes of having time after graduation to work on projects and record the results here seem to have been dashed. Although I haven't post anything in almost a year I have been working on a few projects as time allows. In fact, I've even taken up a new hobby - sewing!

My first sewing project, aside from wardrobe repairs, was a holder form my crochet hooks. It was a simple project that allowed me to learn about my sewing machine. I started with a search for patterns, but I ended up making my own pattern out of newspaper.

My next project was a shoulder bag. Again, I did a search for patterns online and found a few I liked. The two best, found here and here, I combined a bit. I liked the first because it was reversible. I liked the second because of the pocket. Once again I used newspaper to draw up the pattern. This is the final result:




I am very pleased with the final results. There's really only one modification I would make if I were to use the same pattern again. I want to try to adjust the length of the strap. I'm not sure I like it at its current length - though I'm not sure what length I would prefer. Other than that any improvement will be limited to developing my sewing skills, and that will only come with time and practice.