Sunday, April 13, 2008

One Night's Work

I guess I really want to get the Noni bag done, 'cos I stayed up extremely late last night working on it! I don't really know what I'm doing, so hopefully I won't have to rip anything out that I've done so far.

First, I got out my "new" sewing machine for the machine sewing parts. Heh heh. If this is my new sewing machine you are really wondering what my "old" one looks like. Yes, it may actually be considered an antique. They might not have all the bells and whistles and computers of the ones in the shops, but they do *work* and that's enough for me at this point. This one's older than me and I've sewed on it since I was a kid. I did a lot of sewing then and hardly any recently, but I'd like to do more again.

It does have it's own table it drops into, but I kind of like working on the dining room table, so Jeff hauled it downstairs for me. I'll be sure to take a picture of my other sewing machine for you at some point.

I got to work on finishing the Noni bag by sewing some grosgrain ribbon together lengthwise (on the machine) and then hand sewed it into the bag for the handles. I attached it all the way around the bag for durability, following the lead of some other bloggers like Z Knits and Wendy Knits. You can see both ribbons stitched down in this picture:
I can't resist including a close up of my tiny, relatively neat stitches!
Next, I sewed in the zipper, trying my best to even up the edges of the opening and keep the stripes lined up.
I put the handles on just for fun at this point to see how they look. I'll have to remove them for working on the bag more. The next step is to cut and stitch in the reinforcing layer. After that, I have to cut out and sew the fabric lining and attach it.
The only thing I didn't buy for this that I'm wondering if I'll want are feet. I guess I have to make my mind up soon as it will be too late to put them in after awhile. I'm leaning toward *not* having feet. Any thoughts on that?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You did such a nice job with this bag. I'd forgo feet.

Devorah said...

Such detail! I do not think that feet will really make a difference. I like the idea that the grosgrain will also add stability to the felt.

Anonymous said...

Noni looks fantastic. What a clever idea to put the ribbon inside to add strength. Feet are good, they protect the bag, but if you aren't putting it anywhere 'unsafe' you probably don't need them!!!

knitseashore said...

Wow -- you are quick. Almost finished!! I was wondering about the bag feet too, but since I didn't see any at the store, I'll probably not use them.

That is a great idea about the ribbon going the circumference of the bag.