My Stitching Bag

Finally finished – my new stitching bag.  What’s not to love – it’s blue, and pretty, I love it.

My new stitching bag

Detail of the wildlife

It all started out with me attending a class way back in August to learn about re-using doilies.  I was very lucky to collect some when my MIL passed away, and had grand visions of using them to make a quilt.  But this one, being blue, didn’t really go with the rest, so I thought it would be just the thing to use on the front of a bag.  It started out like this, after I had stitched some words in the centre.  I needed a little help to get started, but was told, oh no,  you just can't plonk it right in the middle, it must be placed off centre.

My blue doily

So I had a change of plan, and with a little help, came up with a different idea.  How about a leafy branch and a bird up here, and arrange the doily artistically  in the lower corner?  By the time I arrived back home, all I had to show for my day out sewing was this.  But the plan was to work away diligently  on my bag, otherwise it will get put away and join the ranks of UFOs already in residence in my sewing room.

All I completed in class

Once home I added  a few pretty blue flowers on the corner of the bag.  The flowers were machine appliquéd in place, and I added a button in the centre - then just a little hand stitching to link the flowers together. And while I was sitting at the sewing machine I constructed the straps and machine quilted a piece for the back of the bag.

A few flowers in the corner

The doily was trimmed down and stitched in place, as was the cute little butterfly which I found on another of MIL’s doileys.  And then I spent many peaceful hours doing   “big stitch” quilting with Perle No 5 thread.

Big Stitch quilting

Once the hand stitching was completed, assembling the bag didn’t take too long at all.  I love how it has all come together, using the vintage doilies, and a combination of machine and hand stitching.  And the best thing is – it’s finally finished!