Post Haste Challenge Bag

 

On the last day of the month I'm fitting in my single project for the monthly 2017 Sewing Book Challenge over on Instagram. I only managed one challenge make in February - why does this month always seem to fly by so quickly? It is only 2 days shorter than the other months!!

The Long Handled Bag pattern is from Sew Illustrated by Minki Kim and Kristin Esser and is a gift for a sister whose life has suddenly been turned upsidedown - and not in a good way. I'm hoping the cheerful print and gingham will in some way brighten the dark days she is going through at the moment - and also be useful for carrying little comfort essentials on hospital trips.

Although I used the bag pattern straight from the book I changed the surface decoration as I was bowled over by the gorgeous Stitched Rose Bag Minki blogged last week and tried a simplified version of her design. Because I wanted to get the bag finished quickly I used a patchwork "cheater print" from LECIEN I'd been hoarding for a year or so. And I had a large reel of woven braid found in a charity shop which was just the right colours and the perfect width for the handles.

I used stamps for the flower embroidery, though I didn't actually stamp on the fabric but used a light box to trace the outline image on the stamp set's acetate holding sheet straight onto the linen with a Frixon pen.

And I added a bit of colour with Copic markers - if you try this be careful to colour with the lightest touch and pale colours so as to prevent any bleeding over the stitched lines. It all came together very nicely and was finished in one day - though I have to admit rather late in the day! Now I just need to get it to the Post Office post haste!