Progress on the DWR

I can see light at the end of the tunnel!

I haven't been posting a lot lately because I've been SEWING!!!!  Sewing, sewing, sewing!  I had a goal to make this king size double wedding ring quilt in 4 weeks.  I'm on week number 5 and it's looking like it will take me about 6 weeks.  I'm doing 9 rings across and 9 rings down (that sounds less scary than 81 rings).  Each ring is 11 inches across.  I measure from any spot to the same spot on the next ring.  I can't bring myself to call these things "blocks".  I have all of my rings done and now I'm putting them together.  In a "normal" quilt--- putting them together is usually the easy part.  Not so with this thing!  What I wouldn't give for a straight line right now.

I've taken some pictures of the process and I promise to do a very detailed tutorial complete with tips and pitfalls.... but that takes time and I'm going to do it after I get my top done.  I'm on a deadline and... well.... you know how it goes.

Back to the sewing machine with me......

A Dozen Bags- Cable Ready Bag

For those of you who have been long-time readers of my blog, you may remember my "Dozen Bags" project. In January of 2009, I started a bag a month that would utilize a free pattern- either my own or one found somewhere on the internet. The bags would be quilted, knitted, or whatever. Well... I think I got up to 4 bags and then life happened. This has been a crazy year for me. I got behind and the project pretty much got put on hold. Well-- I'm going to pick it back up here. I am not on track for a bag a month- that ship has sailed. But I'll keep going until I do 12 bags. I'd love to sprint to the finish and get them all done in 2009, but I'm not sure that will happen. We'll see.

I made this bag when we took our drive from Oregon to NJ and back. I got a LOT of knitting done on that trip! (You'll see it all in future posts). My greatest love is quilting, but knitting makes a great travel hobby.

This bag is a free download on the Lion Brand Yarn website. They have tons of great patterns on their site for knitting and crochet. This one is called the Cable Ready Bag. You need a really chunky yarn. It calls for Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick. I made it with the same colors called for in the sample they have. You could certainly make it in one solid color, as well. It's a great project for learning to do cables because the yarn and needles are so big- easy to see what you are doing.
I have a few tips for you if you plan to make this bag. The patterns is written pretty well, but there were 2 spots that made me think a little. When you have completed the front and back of the bag (which are identical), the pattern tells you to sew the sides and bottom. But it doesn't tell you how far up the side to sew. If you sew all the way up, you won't be able to get anything into the bag. So I went up to the last color change, or about 3/4 of the way up from the bottom.
When you're at the top and ready to deal with the handles, it's really very easy, although the pattern was a little confusing. It's just a matter of taking the crochet hook over the top and grabbing the next stitch off the knitting needle, then going inside the hoop (under) and grabbing the yard from underneath for the next stitch. This wraps the yarn around the handle.
You'll eventually get all the stitches off the knitting needle and then you continue on to wrap the handle. I have 2 pieces of advice here. First, count your stitches so you put the same number on both handles. Second- cram as many stitches in here as you possibly can. I think I did 150 on each handle. Really, really stuff them in there. When you think you're done-- keep going. I mean it- I stuffed and stuffed. Now that I've been carrying the bag for a while, they are loosening up and I'm so glad I wrapped it so tightly.

You can get the handles at most craft shops. The size called for in the pattern is perfect.

I have not lined mine yet, but I need to. My nail file and pens keep making their way through the knitting. If you like to knit bags but don't like lining them, a tip here is to make a drawstring pouch for the little stuff. Your wallet and paper items can go in an unlined bag just fine, and all the little stuff can go in the little drawstring bag. This also makes it easier to change bags AND to find things in your bag.

If you're new to knitting cables, it's surprisingly easy. There are lots of tutorials online. Here's just one of many. I'm sure you could find a video tutorial on you- tube. Basically, you knit a few stitches, then put a few stitches on a holder or double point needle and hold them either in the front or back of your work. Then you knit the next few stitches. Finally, you knit the stitches off the holder. You are holding a few stitches off the work and then adding them back in. It crosses them over. If you see it done once, the patterns are usually pretty easy to follow.

Have fun with this bag. I have a few more in process- we'll eventually make it to 12! For those of you looking for the ones I did earlier in the year, look over to the right side of the blog and click on "A Dozen Bags" on the list of labels.

A Dozen Bags- March/April- Small tote bag

Time to finish the bag. You should have something that looks like the photo above. Take the piece and fold it so that the the 3 squares on the left meet with the 3 on the right. Sew them together and just let the 3 on the bottom dangle for now. Then fold the bottom 3 so that the meet with the bottom of the "circle". Sew around- do the one side, then the bottom 3 then the other side. This is where you'll be happy you started and stopped sewing about 1/4 inch from the beginning and end of a row. You'll have room to turn those bottom corners. Make sure you reinforce where you start and stop- especially on the bottom of the bag.

Then sew one line of stitching 1/2 inch from the edge all around the top opening of the bag.
For the handles, cut 4 inch wide strips by the length you want your handles. You probably want them to be somewhere between 30 and 40 inches long. My suggestion is that you just cut your strips by the width of the fabric and then adjust them when you go to attach them.

Fold in half, then open back up and fold the ends into the center fold. This gives you a strip that's 4 thichnesses of the fabric. I like this instead of the tube method because you don't have to turn the tube and because it's thicker and stronger. Sew a line right along the side of the strap to close it up. I suppose there are lots of ways to make the straps- this just seems like an easy method for a simple bag. Now attach them to the top where you like them. I did mine about half way between the center and the outsides. I sewed roughly one inch squares and then sewed an "X" in the middle of the square to reinforce the place where the straps attach.

Your bag should look like this.
Now it's time to clip. This is a good place for a favorite tv show or a hands-free phone call to a friend. Snip the seams right up to the stitching line, being VERY CAREFUL not to clip the stitched seam. Notice that this is the only time in this pattern that I have told you to be careful.

Snip away- all sides and all directions. It will look best if you do a lot of clipping. I clipped about 4-5 clips per inch. Clip the top opening, too. That's why we stitched the line around the top edge.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND RAG SNIPS for this. You can get away without them for a handbag but you'll have blisters on top of blisters if you try to snip a whole quilt with regular scissors. Rag Snips are amazing. My son used my rag snips to cut automobile carpet. I got tired of everyone borrowing mine so I got my sons both their own pair one year for Christmas. I carry them on my website but as far as I know, different brands all work well.

All snipped. Now comes the "magic". Throw in in the washer and dryer a couple of times. I like to throw in a pair of jeans to rough it up a bit. Keep checking your lint catcher. As you can imagine- it generates a lot of lint.

Here's a close up of the clipped edges after washing and drying twice. Isn't it cute how they fluff up? The inside of the bag has nice clean seams. The bag is actually reversible, but I'm not sure why you'd go to all the trouble of fraying the edges and not show them.

For this technique you can adjust the size of the squares. Make the inside square an inch smaller than the outside squares. Some people use 3 flannel squares the same size and fray them all. That's up to you. Just play around with it. It's pretty hard to mess up.

I'll be doing a second frayed edge bag and I'll show you some quilts with this method... probably next week.

If you make one of these bags (or any of the other ones) I'd love to see a picture!

A dozen Bags March/April

Now that you have 27 little flannel "sandwiches" made, lay them out in 4 rows- 8,8,8,and 3 sandwiches. The little row of 3 will be the bottom of the bag.
Take half inch seams when you sew them together. You'll either just catch or just miss the little 4 inch piece of batting. Either way- it's fine. Try to come within a 1/4 inch or so of the beginning and end of the stitched rows and back stitch or reinforce the beginning and end of the stitching lines.
Now sew the rows together. Open the seams up and use pins to help you keep them open while you stitch. Again- reinforce the beginning and end of the long rows and come to within about 1/4 inch of the beginning and end.
When you stitch the last little row on, attach them to the 5th, 6th and 7th squares in the row above.
Here's a close up noting that I didn't sew all the way to the end of the row.

Tomorrow we'll make it look like a bag and put on some handles. Simple so far? Remember- it's RAG quilting. Don't stress over the details. Just keep sewing.

A Dozen Bags- March (early April)

I'll bet you thought I forgot about the March bag! It was a busy month (understatement) and I got a little behind. Silly Me-- I didn't think anyone would notice. Then I got this sweet message from Sarah in Houston asking me if she missed it. So this is for Sarah, and everyone else out there who would like to make a new bag. For those of you who are new to this blog, I started a series in January called "A Dozen Bags". My plan is to give you one free pattern for a bag every month.

This bag is kind of wintery, but it hasn't felt much like spring around here until today. I'll have it ready for next Fall. :-)

If you've ever made a rag quilt, this will be easy for you. If this is your first frayed edge (rag) project, you'll soon be hooked. If you've done this before, no need to follow my instructions exactly. Make it whatever size you like.


You'll need some flannel scraps. I think it looks best with lots of different fabrics but it's up to you. You'll need (54) 5 inch squares of flannel and (27) 4 inch squares of scrap batting. I like Warm and Natural but you can use any batting scraps- or you could use flannel or a cut up blanket or old sweatshirt. This is a great recyle project.

Make 27 little sandwiches. The flannel pieces (right sides out) are the bread and the batting scraps are the meat. Just one piece of meat per sandwich here or your bag will weigh a ton.
Sew X's on the sandwiches. I like to chain piece them.... going one direction... cut them apart.... then chain the other direction. When you stitch from corner to corner, start and end about 1/4 inch from the corner. Try to be as accurate as you can, but don't stress about it if you sew too far. This isn't an heirloom quilt- it's rag quilting.
You'll notice that my little sandwich isn't perfect. Not a problem. This is called "rag quilting" for a reason.

Make your little sandwiches and I'll tell you how to put them together tomorrow. When we're done, this will be a small tote- style bag. After that, we'll make another one that is smaller with a closure. That will be the April bag. (See my plan to get caught up with my bags???).

When we're done with the 2 bags, I'll show you how to make rag quilts and I'll show you the technique for making them double sided.

A Dozen Bags- February Bag finish

Let's attach the handles and finish the tote bag. You should have (2) 18-inch handles. Turn the top edge down 1-inch and press. Slip a handle under the cuff leaving about a 6-inch space between each end. Pin the handle ends through the cuff.
Stitch the handles just under the cuff. Repeat for the handle on the other side.

Fold the handles up and stitch all the way around the top of the cuff, through the handles.

Da Da! Wasn't that easy??? Thanks for the free pattern, Lazy Girl Designs!

A Dozen Bags- February Bag part 2

Let's keep going on the February Bag.
To Square up the bottom corners, we already cut a 2" square from each corner. For each cut corner, open up the hole you created and match up the seams.
Pin and stitch across the opening. Be sure to reinforce the beginning and ending of the stitching line.
Now turn the bag right side out through the opening you left. Stitch the opening shut right along the edge. Now comes the fun part. It felt a little like folding a fitted sheet. Fold the end with the little opening section you just stitched inside the other end. This way, the area you left open to turn and then stitched, will be the lining and will not show. Do your best to push the lining inside the bag then press the fold along the top. You now have the finished bag without handles. We'll do them tomorrow.

A Dozen Bags 2009- February Bag

It's time to make our February bag! This one will be super fast and easy-a LOT faster than the January Bag. I found a great FREE PATTERN on the Lazy Girl Designs site. I love Lazy Girl! She has some great bag patterns. I picked up some new Lazy Girl patterns and will be adding them to the website soon. This free bag pattern is for a simple tote bag. It just takes one yard of fabric, and you can make it in one easy sewing session. So download the pattern by clicking on "free Pattern" above and let's get started!

I always hate it when someone says I should be able to finish a block or a project in one hour and it takes me three hours. It makes me feel like a remedial quilter. I've been sewing for 40 years and I own a quilt shop and I'm never the first person to finish a project. So.... I'm estimating that it should take most people about an hour to make this bag. But if you're watching tv or have to use the bathroom or get a phone call... or if you're me.... it might take you and hour and a half or 2 hours. Either way- it's quick and easy.


To prepare your fabric, pre-wash if you want to. Then give it a good pressing and trim the edges so that they are nice and straight. You want to end up with a piece of fabric that is 36 inches long by the width of the fabric, which should be about 44 inches. Trim off the selvages and cut 4 inches off one of the selvedge edges for the handle. You just need one strip that is 4" x 36" for the handles (you'll cut it later). The remaining piece should be about 36" x 40". Fold it in half (right sides facing) so that it measures 36" x about 20".


For the handles, fold the long strip in half then open it up and fold the edges into the center fold. Then fold on the original fold line. This makes a long piece that is 4 pieces of fabric thick. Stitch along the open edge, very close to the edge. Then cut it in half, giving you (2) 18-inch handles.
Stitch around the 3 open sides of the main handbag, leaving an opening to turn.
Cut a 2 inch square from each corner.

More tomorrow!

A Dozen Bags- January Bag Finish

It's time to line the bag and finish up. After sewing around the lining from side marker to side marker (which leaves the top open), put the bag inside the lining, right sides together. To add a little extra ease in opening the finished bag, you might want to stitch the lining just a little bit below the markers- leaving a slightly larger opening. Not much- just a little bit. I found that the finished bag was a little tight- I wanted it to open a little more.
Stitch around the top opening, leaving an area open to turn the bag. I did a lot of pinning, as the knitted bag was pretty stretchy and I wanted to make sure it didn't slip out of place before it was stitched.

Turn right side out, and lightly press. Whip stitch the opening (where my hand is).


The pattern calls for 11 1/2" x 4 1/4 " D-shaped bamboo handles. Handbag handles are pretty easy to find in craft stores these days. I've ordered several styles of handles to sell on my website, and will be adding them soon, but I don't have this size yet. The ones I used for this bag are by Purse n-alize-it!

Fold the little extensions over the handles and hand stitch them down. I found that mine had a pretty wide gap around the middle 2 openings and I took a little tuck to cinch them up. This made a small gather inside in the lining, which I think looks cute.

We're all done! Enjoy your bag!

January Bag- done knitting- now it's time to sew!

I finished the front and back of the bag and used the yarn and a big fat rounded point needle to sew the front to the back. To do that, I put the right sides facing, and stitched around, starting and ending at the stitch markers on the sides. So there is a little space at the top of the sides that is open. Then turn the bag right side out.
I took a fat quarter (I love this batik- and it just happens to be on my website). Laying the knitted bag out on top of a double layer of the fabric, as flat as I could, but not stretching it, I traced around the bag at about 1/4 inch larger than the bag.
Then it's a simple stitch around- to the same points where you stopped at the stitch markers on the knitting. Leave the lining inside out, because that's how you want to put it inside the knitted bag.

Two more steps before the handles go on. We're going to put a pocket in and press under 1/4 inch around the unstitched edges at the top. I didn't think of the pocket before I stitched around the lining. I just decided to add the pocket! You might want to hold off and read the pocket part and put that on before you close the lining up. You'll have an easier time with the pocket than I will. This is what happens when I get inspiration when I have a work in progress!

January Bag- Finishing the back

When you finish the last group of rows (3-11) follow the instructions for the shaping rows. Then you do the 3 extensions that will wrap around the handles. The pattern is pretty clear- work the first group of stitches, then bind off 3, then the second group, then bind off 3, then the 3rd group. At this point, you will just work each of the 3 sections, one at a time, and bind them off. The back is done! You work the front the same as the back... so you will need two of these.

Now, a few words about blocking. Remember- I own a quilt shop and I also love to knit. If you talk to someone who owns a yarn shop, and she tells you something different- believe her and not me. I hate to block my knitting, but I see the folly of my ways when I cut corners and don't bother. Knitting is so much more professional-looking when it's blocked. We are going to line this and it will be tricky to sew up the sides and get a neat lining while fighting with curly corners. My back piece in the above picture was flattened out around the edges with a steam iron. Here's my understanding of blocking and steaming. Chime in if you have words of wisdom to offer! Blocking shapes a piece to the exact size you need. If you're making a sweater and you need the sleeve to actually FIT you, you really need to block it. When you block knitting, you wet the piece and pin it to a blocking board that is marked with the outline of the pattern, or with a grid that has size markings on it. As it dries, it ends up in the exact size and shape you need it to be- with no curly edges. With this purse, we are going for shape. I don't care if it's an inch bigger or an inch smaller than yours. All I care is that the front and back are about the same size, and that it looks pretty. So... I took a steam iron and ran it over the corners where it was curly. I DID NOT mash down on it with the iron! I just held the iron really close to the knitted piece and pressed the little steam puff button on my iron and gave it a shot of steam. Then I shaped it with my fingers, gave it another shot of steam, another finger shaping, and back and forth a few times until I was happy with it. I emphasize- this is the "cheater" way to "block" the bag. If you're a purist and you know what you're doing- by all means- you should actually block it. Also note that I am working with a blend that can be washed- if you're working with 100% wool, you don't want to accidentally felt it. Be careful with the steam.

I'm trying to work fast to get this done by next week so you will have the rest of the month to work on it at your own pace. Don't worry if you're not keeping up!

January Bag- Rows 10 and 11

When you get to rows 10 and 11, you come to the stitches that make the little poofy triangle part of the pattern. It's not hard- just a little odd if you've never done it before. In row 10, the pattern reads: "P7 wrapping yarn 3 times for each stitch". To do this, you are working 7 purls. But instead of inserting the needle, wrapping the yarn around it and purling the stitch off, you are going to insert the needle, wrap the yarn around the needle 3 times, and then purl it off. (I use my left thumb nail to "catch" the yarn against the needle as I do the 3 wraps- otherwise they tend to fall off). You'll end up with 7 triple loops on your right needle.
When you get to row 11, when you get to the triple loops, the pattern reads, "slip7 wyif dropping extra wraps, then insert left needle back into these 7 stitches and p7 tog". Don't panic! It's not as bad as it sounds! "wyif" means "with yarn in front". When you purl, the yarn is in front- so they are setting you up to do a purl. As you reach each of the triple wraps, slip them from the left to the right needle. They all come unraveled and you have one giant loop. Do this for all 7, and you'll have 7 giant loops on the right needle.
Take the 7 giant loops and put them on the left needle. Squish them all together and treat them as one loop- and purl them off all together. It feels awkward- but just do it. Trust me. They'll look a little tidy-er in a few rows.
By the time you do a few more rows, you will see the pattern develop. You might want to gently tug down on the whole piece and it will look better. Now you see why I want to line this thing! Yes- it's full of holes! Not to worry- just keep going. (remember- click on the picture to make it bigger).

Follow the pattern. When you finish the first 26 rows, go back and do rows 3-26 again. Mark each end (I just tie a piece of scrap yarn around the first and last stitch) and then do 3-11. You put the markers in to let you know how far up to sew the sides when you get to that point.

You'll have a total of 59 rows (rows 1-26, 3-26, 3-11) completed. There should be 51 stitches on your needle.

January Bag- We're on a roll!

Nine rows done! I said in an earlier post that this is supposedly for intermediate knitters but I thought if you knitted before that you could do this. I've been thinking about that... it might be a little difficult to "see" how to get back on track if you go off course if you're a new knitter. Anyway- if you're a new knitter and want to try a few other projects before tackling this bag, rest assured that it will still be here in the archives if you want to try it later.

I also have a tip for making sure you STAY on track. Leaving the "tail" from casting on at the beginning can tell you if you should be on an even or an odd row. If you cast on with the "long tail" method, the tail will be at the beginning of an odd row. If you cast on with the "loop cast on" method, the tail will be at the beginning of an even row. You can note this on your little cards and get in the habit of looking when you start each row to make sure you aren't working the same row twice or skipping a row.

Another note, in case you hadn't noticed: You started by casting on 67 stitches, but that doesn't stay constant from row to row. The number of stitches on each row varies- there aren't always 67 stitches on a row. (I had to do a double take on this at first).

January Bag- Getting Started

Before starting to knit, I'd like to suggest a tip that makes knitting patterns like this a LOT easier for me. It will take you about 10 minutes, and you'll be happier for hours to come! For this pattern, the diamond pattern is worked on 26 rows. The stitches are not complicated, but each of the 26 rows are different. I don't know about you, but my eyes never remember where they looked last on a pattern page like this! I know- you can use a ruler and pull it down the page- but then the ruler goes flying when the dog walks by and wags his tail over the page. You can use a stitch counter, but then you still have to look down the page to find the line. You can mark it with a pencil, but you need to repeat the diamond pattern over and over and the page gets messy fast. I like to make myself a little pattern booklet. For this pattern, I cut 26 pieces of heavy paper and punched a hole in the top left corner of the stack. I wrote one pattern line on each piece, then tied them together with a piece of scrap yarn. After working a row, I flip the "page". I always know that I need to start with the page that is currently showing. Really- it just takes a few minutes to do this and you'll be smiling for hours. You have to work these rows 6 times- so it's really worth the 10 minutes!
This pattern is for the "intermediate knitter". I don't know exactly what that means. If you'd knitted before, you can do this. If my little pictures aren't enough, check out the Lion Brand website (where you got this pattern) or Ravelry. I'm really hooked on Ravelry. If you like to knit or crochet, you HAVE to check out Ravelry! Aside from basic knit and purl, there are a few different stitches used in this pattern. Above is M1 (or Make one). There is a horizontal stitch right below the next stitch to be knitted. I have my thumb nail on it in the photo above. Lift it onto the left hand needle and knit it--- and you've "made" an extra stitch (increased one).
This photo (above) illustrates p2tog, which means purl 2 together. It's just like a purl, only you take 2 stitches together. It effectively decreases your row by one stitch.
This photo (above) illustrates p2tog-tbl, which means purl two together through back loops. It's the same as purl 2 together, only you do it through the back. With yarn in front, take your right hand needle and insert in the next 2 stitches on the left hand needle in the back- going in the direction of the point. In other words, you are actually poking it throught the second stitch before the first stitch. Then just wrap your yarn and purl them off together.


There is one other unusual group of stitches that will come up in row 10. I'll show them to you when I get there.

So- we're starting with the back, casting on 67 stitches, and working the first 9 rows of the diamond pattern.

I'll try to work through this project in the first few weeks of the month, giving you time to complete it in January if you want to keep up with the bag of the month. I'm excited- I think this is really a cute bag!