Project One - Knitted bag with crocheted flowers

I started project one in the immediate days after Christmas, snuggled up on the sofa, watching crap Christmas TV. It was a delight. The embellishing was done in front of Life On Mars, which was wonderful - getting to craft and perve over Philip Glennister at once, I was in heaven :) Anyway, here is the finished product:

 [caption id="attachment_29" align="alignleft" width="460" caption="Project 1: brown knitted bag"][/caption]                    

Total cost -

• 1 ball brown eyelash wool, on sale in Boyes - 99p
  
• scraps of wool for crocheting (donated by Aunty Pauline, my craft inspiration)
  
• beads and buttons for embellishment (left over from past project)
  
• old floral shirt for lining - was given to me by my sister in law, after being giving to her by her mother in law. At some point my own mother in law wore it, so it's been well loved! I reckon it's now 5th hand, at least.
  
• piece of fleece, pinched from a redundant cot blanket I made for Charlie, which was originally made from a piece from Ikea (£3 for double bed size, if I remember correctly)
  
• black cotton thread (from past project)

So, not counting items donated / given / recycled this bag has cost 99p. If you'd like to make something similar, the instructions are very simple:

1. Knit a piece  25cm x 40cm ish. I used knit and purl rows randomly for texture, but you can hardly see it because of the eyelash. Garter stitch in plain wool would look stunning.
   
2. Knit a strip of wool 5cm x 1m (approx - measure around yourself to make sure it's the right length. It will stretch when you have things in the bag.
   
3. Cut a piece of fleece or cotton flannel to give the bag substance, slightly smaller than the knitted rectangle. Pin to wrong side of fabric.
   
4. Cut lining fabric same size as knitted rectangle and hem (I use the width of the sewing machine foot as a guide)
   
5. Place fleece onto wrong side of knitted rectangle, then place lining on top, right way up. Pin and sew. You should now have one piece of fabric that is knitted on one side, lined on the other and has the fleece or cotton flannel in between to give structure, but it not visible. Treat as one piece of fabric.
   
6. Fold the fabric into 3, to give a bag covered by a flap. Sew sides on wrong side. I used blanket stitch with wool.
   
7. Sew the ends of the strap together to make a large loop. pin and sew to bag, just under flap. Ensure you try it on to make sure it hangs properly - my first attempt ended up by my knees!
   
8. Crochet some flowers - there are good tutorials on You Tube. I cheated and asked Aunty Pauline to crochet mine, but she will teach me how to do it myself later in the year.
   
9. Sew a button to the centre of each flower, and embellish with sequins, beads and embroidery.
   
10. Hand stitch flowers to bag.

                                     

Have fun. I really hope you'll have a go at making something like this - it's easy and fun to combine crafting techniques. You may wish to avoid brown, since some kind heart soul (who shall remain nameless) said it looked like pubes. Cheers! [lol]