Thursday, December 13, 2007

Shopping Bag from Vintage Pattern

I think this pattern illustration is so alluring. Look at that bottom left shopping bag. She's wearing a glove to do the grocery shopping. And see the celery poking out? All right, all right, I'll make the bag already!

With linen expensive and difficult to find, I have been experimenting with plain cotton canvas as a lining or interlining to bags. I'm loving it, as it is cheap, has a nice crisp body and a beautiful natural texture and color, and is much easier to sew through than interfacing. It also has vintage cache, as it was the actual suggested material in this project.


Of course I love the buttoning outside pocket for your money and keys (or carfare?) I love that these quotidian items were made with such care. The pocket flap is lined!


In honor of that vintage spirit of making the ordinary beautiful, I lined the straps with crimson velvet. In addition to being beautiful, they also feel very good to hold, if you're not wearing white gloves.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Anna, just discovered your blog yesterday and am very impressed. I could not be more different from you (I have only 1 child and am not from a religious family) but I feel a connection in the desire to keep a good home. I do paid work like yourself and find the balance quite hard to strike sometimes. Thanks so much for the inspiration.

Anonymous said...

Love your humor about the gloves. The bags details are truly inspiring, love the triangle overstitch. And your pink dress is gorgeous! Do all those old patterns fit long-waited or is it just that one?
Blessings,
Leslie

Suzanne said...

Very pretty! Carfare...hmmm....would love to know:-)

Kelly @ The Barefoot Mama said...

Absolutely beautiful!

YayaOrchid said...

Lovely bag! Would you be able to share your source for velvet ribbon? I believe you use it a lot for embellishing your sewn dresses. Very pretty indeed!

Anna said...

Hobby Lobby currently has velvet ribbon in chocolate brown, scarlet, turquoise, and black. Not a bad selection! After all, red goes with everything, right? I'm thinking they have hot pink too, and that's a neutral also!

In January I will be at Denver Fabrics again where they have velvet ribbon in Every Color Under the Sun!

YayaOrchid said...

Thank you so much for sharing that info with us! I'll go check those sites out now for the ribbons.

Anonymous said...

love it
denise
x

Anonymous said...

I share your enthusiasm about the detail and care put in everyday items from days gone by!

I am sewing a dress for my daughter this week. Accompanying the process is the girlhood memory of my dear mom's instruction: "the inside must look as beautiful as the outside!"

Anonymous said...

Anna, what a beautiful bag you have constructed. I'm thinking I need to make one to take to Farmers' Market! Your creativity (in sewing, in mothering, in the photos you provide) is truly an inspiration to live life in beautiful simplicity. Desert Lady

Anonymous said...

I think that perhaps this is my favorite project of yours. Truly beautiful. :o)

EEEEMommy said...

Lovely! Absolutely delightful!
Each visit to your blog is a pleasure!

Shari said...

i've been seeing shopping bags a lot lately in blogsphere, i'll have to look into getting some. we go to aldi's, and just reuse their bags (which are very sturdy, we use them over and over) but permanent bags would be so much nicer.

copperswife said...

I, too, love the idea of making the everyday things more beautiful when we can. The velvet ribbon on your new shopping bag is lovely.

Cheri said...

ohhhhhh is this going in the shop? I *love* it!

Kelly said...

Can you imagine...going out for groceries in a day dress with fitted waist, low heels, and white gloves? Hair done just so, makeup quite right. Okay, so no one ever did, but the pattern illustrations certainly set the scene in my mind's eye!

Once again, lovely bag.

Elizabeth said...

So lovely! And feminine!!! You inspire me greatly!!!! =)

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