Stashbusting Sewalong: November Theme "Containment - Japanese Knot Bag"

The theme for the Stashbusting Sewalong for November is all about containment. I had high hopes of making both my children new bags for swimming, maybe some more fabric boxes to store things in my studio, and of course, a Japanese Knot Bag, for which Sue from Fadanista is hosting a sewalong this month for the Stashbusting Sewalong.

I was determined to at least make one bag this month, and had a neglected cotton top in mind to use as well.

When I printed the pattern out, it was so big that I would have only gotten one of the pieces out of the front of top, so I printed another copy at 85%, which looked a little small, and another at 92%! Not having chosen a fabric to use as a lining, I did a quick look around and decided to make my daughter a bag instead, using some printed cotton that I first used about 10 years ago to make my niece a tiered, frilled skirt. I think the skirt's all worn out now, I know my daughter used it so much that the waistband was starting to fray!

Bag No. 1 in progress

This bag is so quick and easy to make. My first version I made from the 92% size copy. It only took one hour start to finish. Win!

For my second bag, I used the 85% size of the pattern. It took a little longer to make, as I had to prepare the fabric by unpicking the top, and interfacing the fabric. I was having trouble interfacing my textured fabric, so I put a towel underneath the fabric to even out all the bumps.

You might be wondering why I would want to turn a perfectly good top into a bag. Well, here's a before shot.

I must say that I didn't notice anything wrong with it, until my husband pointed out one day the unfortunate placement of the circles in the pattern. I felt so self-conscious about it after that, I just couldn't wear it again. And now it doesn't really fit anyway, so it was either put it in a charity bin, or refashion it.

I spent a long time wondering what to use as lining, and when I went to have a look at what I had, I found the perfect fabric straight away. It has the same base colour, which I had thought would be really hard to match.

This is one of my secret stash of Parisians fabrics. I can't help myself whenever I see one, I have to buy at least half a metre. I never have any plans for them, I just buy them to keep for a rainy day.

My Parisian themed fabric stash

A peek inside my bag at the streets of Paris

I'm really happy with how this one turned out. When I cut it, I was careful to cut both pieces with the pattern side up, so I could have the patterned side all on one side of the bag. You'd think I would have realised from making the first one that they pieces aren't both right side up, so I ended up with one patterned piece on one side on the bag, and the other on the back. You know what though, I like it a lot better this way. It breaks the pattern up, and there's a bit more interest with the opened dart on each side of the back too!

I'll leave you with a size comparison between the two bags.

If you'd like to make your own Japanese Knot Bag, Sue has generously made her pattern available as a free download from her blog here.