Swear-bags...

I am going to gloss over the fact I could have hand sewn a small quilt in the time it took to wait for our Father's Day lunch today, and keep the gloating to the minimum, that patience lead to a 60% discount excluding the Dad's Eat Free offer, and show you some stitchery...

So a few weeks back I decided on what I wanted to make for the FQR 2014 sample swap, specifically using the Chicopee bolt and bargain denim.  I drafted out a pattern in the loosest sense of the word, cut all the pieces for 5 tote bags and felt very prepared.

I made the handles and pockets, clip loops and all sorts; it was all looking good.

I thought it might be wise to finish making one up first, you know, just in case, and so I did.

It came together really quickly, just as planned in fact, but, I hated it!  I got in a mood; I probably posted a 2 word grumpy blogpost, and sulked for a few days.

The original bags were to have a shoulder strap, and I eventually narrowed down my displeasure to this, so I got to unpicking.

Of course I had stitched the strap on first with a row of stitches before joining the outer to the lining, and top stitching the whole lot.  Of course I used nice tiny stitches and a load of back stitching to secure it all; only bright side, I hadn't sewn up the turning gap in the lining.

Soooooooo strap removed, and short webbing handles decided upon, I attached a pair, again with due belt and braces stitching, joined it all, nice top-stitching and bugger me if one of the straps hadn't twisted.

Rude words.  Many.

Deciding that maybe I could just release one end and not have to unpick the lot, I managed to start on unpicking the wrong pieces, but eventually got it back on and stitched back together with lots of unpleasantries.

But not as many swear words as when it then didn't line up with the other handle any more.

@£$%^&*()(*&^%$£@!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to basics, whole lot taken apart and sewn together from scratch, and thank goodness I loved the result!!

The other denim pair, and a pair in grey home-dec came together in minutes by comparison.  All turning gaps were stitched up this afternoon and I am done!!

The moral of this story... stick to pincushions!!

For those who like details, these finish up c. 12" x 14" with 12" webbing straps; they were all pieced, stitched and re-stitched with a jeans needle and Aurifil 40wt in 4093, except for stitching the handle details, which I used matching 50wt thread.

The inside pockets and FQR 2014 key clips are sewn into the lining seam, and there are little FQR 2014 tags on the outside.

I apologise for the quality of these photos, not sure quite what is going on there, but I am so relieved to be finished, the photos were the last thing on my mind.

I hope my swap partners like them, I am keeping one of the grey ones for myself, because quite frankly after all that, I think I bloody deserve one!