Sashiko Bag and Beads on Paper

I made the sashiko panel I recently finished into a bag. The bag fabric is a much darker blue than the sashiko fabric, but I think the simple blue and white print goes well with the sashiko.  (Plus, I wanted to use fabric I had in my stash.) The blue and white print is a bit heavier than quilt fabric, so it gives the bag some body. The sides and the bottom are one piece of fabric, attatched to the front and back.

 

I didn’t have a bag pattern, so it was just kind of trial and error to fit the size of the sashiko panel.  After I made the handles, I realized they were too wide, so I folded them in and stitched them at the top, where a hand will hold the bag.

 

I did all of the sewing together by hand, so I was able to hide the seams inside, where they can’t be seen.  The bag could be reversible, but the purpose is to show the sashiko, so I wouldn’t want to put it to the inside.

 

I’m happy with how it turned out.

Beads on Paper

Alicia, Mikwako and I are working on some ornaments done with beads on perforated paper.

 Alicia is doing a little bear holding some greenery. Miwako is doing a partridge and a pear.  She asked me what that meant.  The 12 Days of Christmas isn’t well known in Japan, like it is in the US.  She changed the brown of the partridge to shades of blue to make the blue bird of happiness. I completed a snowman head and a cardinal at home and started working on another ornament that says JOY.  The patterns for these pieces came from a booklet of ornaments designed by Sam Hawkins and another design by Mill Hill beads.