After a bit of a break I gathered all my kit together yesterday and set up the dining room as a sewing oasis. This morning I got the inevitable “Your craft is all over the house!” I’ve been lucky not to hear this before I guess. It’s untrue anyway; last time I looked there was no craft in the bathroom, kitchen or smallest room of the house.

I have my pre-sew rituals now; one, before I even choose the fabric is to find the latest radio show by Paul O’Grady, Graham Norton or Liza Tarbuck on the BBC iplayer and I’m set. If it’s Liza or Paul I know I’ve got 2 hours sewing time, 3 for Graham. That tends to be enough in one go before I need to walk around a bit more and stretch. (I might be running in a minute; I’ve got a line of washing out and the sky is looking greyer and greyer.)

I’ve been sewing Easter thingymbobs so am not showing those….yet. The other make I can flourish a bit. It’s a simple pattern for a drawstring bag, made from only one fat quarter. You can find the pattern on U Create blog. I sent the link to my crafty buddy who replied asking if I’ve seen the fat quarters skirt. I sense a social sewing bee session coming on.

It took me a while to sew because I undid the side tiny seams twice because it was a little rucked up after turning the fabric to go across and back a stitch or so. If you make it you’ll see what I’m trying to describe; basically look at the third tutorial photo. I tacked it then, old school styley, and got it sorted in a third time lucky kind of way.

All the Spring showers and sunshine (19 degree high this weekend) have made the grass grow like crazy. It’s definitely time to dust off the lawnmower. This is not my job. In light of this morning’s comment perhaps I should yarn-bomb it????! *evil laugher*

Then because it irritated me a bit that the ribbon twists a bit when you draw it up and shows the white underside, (a Mollie Makes giveaway with the mag one month) I changed it. I’ve got several brand new rolls of Jane Means ribbon I won in a giveaway a while back. This is double-sided, thicker too and looks better. I’ll save the pretty chevron ribbon for something else.

It’s a longish bag: 10″ W by 15″ L (someone please tell me which measurement conventionally comes first, or is it always the shortest one or the width or…? I forget.) Mine’s a little longer because of the size of my fat quarter. It’s the perfect size for an adult’s shoe bag or keeping a current knitting project in, especially if you’re using long needles. I’ll probably pop my crochet into it when I take it out and about. You can obviously play about with the size and also adjust the gussets, which make it sit flat. I was tempted to make another but think I’ll play around with some other drawstring bag patterns, it’s all good experience. If you find any good ones please send them to me via pinterest. You can never have too many bags, right?

Oh lordy apparently it’s also the perfect sized gift bag for a bottle of whisky.