Bags of Fun!

We have been working on designs for bags over the last few weeks and have both thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. When we met to discuss this project we said that it had to be stash that was used and we would work at least part of the project using squares made up like tension squares. We decided on cotton and gathered our stashes together and swapped colours with Helen opting for bright and Sarah going for more muted tones. Obviously we both work in very different ways so we took our yarn and headed off to think our respective designs through. What follows is each of us taking you through our thought and design processes:

We all have such a variety of colours in our stash! 

Sarah

I gathered up all my colours and as those of you who have read our previous posts know, I took a photo of the yarn on holiday with me to have a think. 

My Colours

My first thoughts were to do something which would be both practical and pretty but not too bulky. I knew that I wanted a simple design showing the beauty of knitting and purling and the great effects you can get from just using these basic stitches. I have always been a fan of the clutch bag and whilst on holiday I noticed that the majority of us were using ipads, from standard to minis, and that gave me the idea to do a simple clutch which could also double up as an attractive gadget carrier. I did numerous sketches and wrote my ideas down, I like to do this before I start knitting so I know where I am heading. I created the squares first using six different designs.

My Six squares ready for blocking

I knew I did not want all squares and wanted the main body of the bag to be a sturdy structure in a plain or striped pattern I actually mixed both because I had decided that my lining would be floral. 

The main body of the bag

Once the knitting and blocking was done the bag needed constructing....

I sewed the bag together and then cut the stiff interfacing to the measurements of the bag and cut the lining fabric leaving a seam allowance to allow a neat finish. I then sewed these pieces together and inserted them into the knitted bag. I placed magnetic clasps into position and then neatly hand stitched the two bags together. I am rather pleased with the end result. 

Definitely a bag I will use and a design which I hope you will want to reproduce. 

Read on to see Helens bag........... 

Helen

I chose out of our stash bright colours of blues and greens with a splash of orange. They were fun and summery and as soon as I started to play around with them I knew I needed to do a funky festival hippy chic bag with a hobo vibe.

I love crochet, I must say, even more than knitting. For me to start designing I have to begin by crocheting with the yarn for the ideas to start flowing. I decided to work in 2 different square patterns adding lots of colours into each one.

I worked 9 squares for the front and the same for the back.

The only problem I had was the amount of ends I had to sew in when I had finished.

After making all the squares and sewing the ends in I joined all 9 squares together to make the front panel and did the same for the back. I place wrong sides together and work a row of double crochet to join my squares.

I then placed the panels together and crocheted down the two side edges and across the bottom. I then needed to make a solid top so i used up the ends I had left to finish off the top  in rows of double crochet and made a crochet handle.

The only thing left to do now was to line the bag and its was finished. I am not good at sewing so Sarah helped me out.

 I hope you like the finished bag. 

I think you will agree that these two bags are great fun and easy to make and the best thing is it's out of our stash as well!! 

If you would like to make one or both of the bags, we are giving the patterns away. You just need to  email us at hankandskein@gmail.com to get the free patterns....we look forward to hearing from you and seeing your end results, why not post them on our face book page; Hank,Skein and two odd balls. 

Enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday Weekend!

Helen & Sarah x