Carried Away With The Zippie Baggies

After showing you how to make those cute zippy pouches in the last post, I couldn't help but make some more!

Had a lovely day - I was up with the sun at 5.30am this morning, and studied my little head off so I could play with the fabric stash all afternoon :p

There are baggies in the shop now :D

Have you got any ideas for baggie themes you'd like to see?  Any favourite animals?  Drop me a wee comment!

DIY: Rectangle Zippy Pouch for Wooly stuff or Gadgety things!

I do love owls and I cannot lie, you other knitters can't deny, when a pouch sits there with some owls on its front and some stars inside its ... Insides...

My point is; how cute is this?!

Recently, I was asked by Rae of Fabric HQ to make a little tutorial and answer some of her lovely questions!   They have some really nice fabric (I may have to make another little entry on the 'stash shame' board...)

You can find my answers and my tutorial here on Rae's blog!

Let me know what you think!  I might be popping a few into the shop this weekend :p
Have you made any project bags recently?  What's you're favourite type?

x

Cuppa & Cake With... Kelly (Knitting Bag Fairy Lady)

Kelly, of Kelly Connor Designs, popped over for imaginary cake!  Whilst she was here, she offered OwlPrintPanda readers 10% discount - isn't she lovely!

I don't know about you, but I may have a gazillion couple of different knitting projects on the go at once.  These funny little pop culture tote bags do make me smile, and they're useful *nods*.  Do you need to justify buying more knitting accessories?  Bags are a necessity, they keep your house tidy *nods wisely*... 

The discount for us will run until the end of May, and you can claim it by heading on over to Kelly's etsy store and using the code OPPDISCOUNT :D  Hurrah!


1. Hello! Have you had a busy weekend?
Hi there! I have actually had the quietest weekend for ages. I have had the house to myself - a very rare occurance:)  This Saturday I beat the clock to get to the post office before it closes at midday.  I worked on some designs and layouts for some new bags I'm developing, with trash tv on in the background. Bliss! 

2. Your bags :o I want each and every one of them! Which is your own personal favourite? (The 'my-stash' one is most definitely my favourite :D.. or is it 'I like big balls'... )
My all time favourite bags are the 'Nobody Puts My Knitting in a corner' and 'My Precious'. 
At the moment, probably because it's new, I like the 'Bad Mother Knitter' one. I have been watching the Pulp Fiction Clip where Jackson is in a diner, asking at gun point for his wallet, he is asked which one and he says the 'the one that says Bad Mother ........' The scene is just such an odd combination of literalism, grisliness and purility that it cracks me up.
Ooh, and I love the 'I Bloody love knitting one' because it is so understated and British!

3. Your biography on Etsy explains you started making the bags for your own use, what prompted you to share them with the world?
I love being on Etsy. It has been a brilliant platform for me. It is accessible and affordable and has given me the chance to make my own opportunities! I decided to start selling on Etsy because my life changed about three years ago and it provided me with the opportunity to work from home and have a voice inspite of working within some significant personal limitations.

It has put me in touch with people all over the world and it is great to be able to share the love with people that enjoy the same inspirations that I do.

4. If I could magically send you a cup and a cake, whadda you want??
At our get together I would defo have an espresso with a very naughty chocolate brownie, that is a bit gooey in the middle. mmm!

5. What can we find you doing when you're not planning funny new knitting bits & pieces?
My spare time is limited; I'm lucky I get such a buzz from working. I have just launched my own website, which has kept me busy and I'm still tweaking it, if you'd like to have a peek it's www.knittingbagsandgifts.com.

If you'd like to drop by for a chat, send me an email!  

DIY: Sew Easy Project / Knitting Bag

This pretty little quarter has been sitting on my desk for a while - it was too pretty to use!  So  what better way to be able to see your favourite fabric every day than to make it into a project bag?

I've taken far too many photos and written some instructions so you can make one too!

Been on nightshifts this week, and I am finding it very difficult to sleep when it's so sunshiney outside!  Sunshiney free time is for wandering outside with new red-riding hood and fox themed knitting baggies...





You will need:

• any size of fabric, depending on the size of bag you want.  This one (which ends up roughly the same size as a sheet of A4 paper) began as a fabric quarter.  
• ribbon or string for drawstring
• scissors
• needle & thread / sewing machine

1.  Since I've used a quarter, I just folded this in half inside out, but you can also cut two rectangles and pop these together (right sides facing).  The quarter was too long, so I chopped off around 5 inches from the top - my bag fabric at this point measured approximately 55 x 35 cm each side.

2.  Pin around the bottom and open side(s) of your bag.

3.  If you have folded a piece of fabric, cut ~3cm down the folded seam at the top of the bag, to allow you to fold the brim down to form a track for your drawstring.  When sewing your sides together, remember not to sew into this 3cm flap area, as it needs to allow your drawstring to pass out the side!

4.  After sewing the sides and bottom, pin down the top flaps to make your drawstring track.  Remember not to pin these right through both sides!  They only need to be sewn onto one side of the bag! - you don't wanna go sewing your bag shut.  Sew these flaps down - remembering to sew them only onto the side they're on and not to close the small gaps at the sides as your string will need to pass through here.

Stop here!  Don't sew the drawstring track shut!

I apologise for the terrible nail-polish job...

5. Cut two lengths of drawstring, each should be around 2x as long as the circumference of the bag (mine were ~1metre each, but this could probably be smaller).

6.  Feed your string through the drawstring track.  TIP:  tie the string to a knitting needle and pop this easily through the track, drawing your string with it!  Thread one in a loop through from left to right in the front track, and right to left in the back track.  Thread the other in the opposite direction (right to left in front track, left to right in back track).  

7.  Tie your drawstrings into a knot at the ends, turn your bag the right way round, and pull!  One project bag!

 

If you make a project bag, please do send me in your links and photos!  Just pop a comment below or e-mail me if you'd like me to pop a link onto the page!

Aaaa is so cute!  I'ma gonna go stare at it again for a wee while...

I've also made a couple of other pretties, but we shall save those for another day :p