Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Brea Bag

Today when I was in the grocery store I picked up some of that Arm & Hammer carpet deodorizer, the stuff you sprinkle on and vacuum up. I sprinkled it around in my living room (where the carpet is surely older than I am! yay Rental carpets!) and was instantly overpowered by the scent. I was completely unprepared for how overwhelming it is in the time between sprinkling it on and vacuuming it up! Then when I went to vacuum it up i got halfway done the living room when the vacuum started to make a funny noise and there was a whiff of rubber smoke, which really added to the overall scent I had going. So I unplugged the vacuum and turned it over to find a whole wig's worth of hair clogging up the roller bar. (Sorry, you weren't eating were you?) So I finally got the vacuum fixed and got it all vacuumed up but now I forgot what I was going to tell you. I'm sure I had a really funny story or something but... gone.

So I'll just show you my Brea Bag instead.

Brea Bag

Pattern: Brea Bag (free pattern link)
Yarn: Mystery chunky weight yarn bought in a mill ends bag years ago.
Mods: Knit with size 8 needles; subbed chunky weight for 2 strands worsted weight

Brea Bag 1

I knit a little flap and used a magnetic snap for a closure instead of a button and loop.

Brea Bag inside

Lined with some random cotton from stash. I sewed a patch pocket on the lining for my cell phone.

Brea Bag strap

I cut 1/4 inch strips from the leftovers of my leather bag project and braided a 5 strand braid for the strap. I folded a rectangle of the same leather around a metal ring and sewed that over each braid end. Then I hand stitched the strap loops on the purse itself and voila!

The only thing I'm not 100% happy with is that the strap is about 4" longer than it needed to be. It's in that awkward length where it's not a long strap but it's not short enough to really just tuck under your arm either. Oh well. In all, I'm really happy with it.

5 comments:

  1. Love, love, love it! Mine is finished but still missing a strap, and I'm sure hoping to find one before I post the pic. I'm heading out of town Monday and going to check out the thrift stores in that town and see if I can find a strap. I'm getting desperate! :) I am totally cracking up about the vacuum problem... that's happened to me before!

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  2. I love your bag. You did a great job lining it. No easy task, I'm sure. Thanks for stopping in to say hi!

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  3. It looks awesome!!! Great job!! I love the lining too...you're so creative!!!

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  4. I love this bag! It is lovely and i especially am inspired by your strap. I knitted and felted a huge bag a couple of years ago and have never been happy with the strap-now I have an idea! Happy New Year and may your vacuum always work =)!

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  5. love your version of the bag, I made one myself recently (too lazy to line it lol) and I used carpet webbing to make a strap, which I'm quite happy with!

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Hi! I'm so glad you stopped by. I'd love to hear from you.