The gratitude bag and free stitchery pattern...

What a lovely process making this new tote bag has been over the past week. It all began with an idea to remake and share one of my very old stitchery patterns from 2014 with you. From there, I decided to display the design on a pretty tea towel, cutting it up to create a simple tote bag.

But not content with 'just' a tote, I thought that adding some crochet edging around the top would definitely make the whole project a little more special. 

The tea towel was 18" x 28" and I needed to unpick the hems to press it out and give me more fabric to work with, and the upside of this was that I had enough extra to make the two handles. 

The stitchery itself was hand embroidered onto some pale pink linen that I bought way back when Cully May was a baby, and I'd only used it once before as a stitchery background because it's such a fine linen weave. But waste not want not! I am using everything on hand these days, which is really fun. 

I fused some Staflex 3045 interfacing behind the fabric after tracing the design onto the linen. After I'd finished the embroidery it was needle-turned in position on the tea towel fabric. I'd considered blanket stitch applique at first, but decided it was a much nicer finish with the needle-turn. 

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Here's the bag after I'd completed it as a simple tote...

A lovely tote with a good message...but I knew the crochet edging would definitely lift it. Around the top edge I blanket stitched with a very pale turquoise 4ply crochet cotton, similar to the colour in my tea towel fabric. 

Then I switched to this lovely rusty pink 8ply yarn for a row of double chain (chain in the US)...

...followed by a final row of trebles and double chain (double chains and chain US). The pattern is very simple - 3 trebles into one stitch, then 1 dc into each of the next two stitches. Just follow that to the end. 

I really love how this turned out, and it's perfect for our lazy Sunday country drives. I always felt weird taking a handbag on a country drive! 

The inside lining is an old Tilda print I bought back in 2009, which has been used in quite a few projects over the years as I originally had about four metres of it. 

The centre of the flowers are needle-turned and then I added a bundle of yellow double wrapped French knots to help them pop. Every colour used in this project, including the crochet yarn was chosen to blend with the colours in my tea towel. That's advice I have been giving for years here on the blog and in my patterns - choose your fabric first, and then choose your threads to match. 

I know there's heaps of lovely bag patterns around, and if I'd had more fabric I might have chosen to make one of them, but I wanted to keep things simple, using what I already had on hand so that I do not have to spend even a cent - and that is part of finding "joy in the ordinary" for me this year. 

And I am so grateful to have sewing fabrics, tea towels, yarn, threads and a sewing machine to make items with! 

Like the words on the stitchery, we need to keep an attitude of gratitude in our heart and mind every day. Most of us who sew have more than we need, and therefore don't need to spend money on sewing supplies. In 2024, I'm looking at what is right in front of me, and getting excited about using it to create lovely useful items for my home, myself, my family, and for gifts. 

Use the link below to download the free pattern

DOWNLOAD the "Attitude of Gratitude" hand embroidery pattern

This past week I have been deep cleaning the house again, baking up a storm for the family, and sorting through years of Elefantz files, but I'll share more about that in my next blog post. I have some very simple and inexpensive recipes for you to try as well, recipes my family love and refer to as comfort food. 

Do you have a specific comfort food?? Mine are Nana's roast dinners and her baked rice custard...how I miss them. No matter how hard I try, mine never tastes like hers. 

What have you made this week? Have you started a new project for 2024, or are you completing UFOs? Have you been baking? 

Bless each and every one of you in the week ahead, and may your hearts be at peace in your home as you take each day as the gift it is, and choose to live with joy in your ordinary lives. 

hugs,

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More colour and fussy cutting...

There was no adventuring for Mr E and I this last weekend.

We have a sick motorbike that needed attention and it became a rather huge undertaking as the more Mr E dug into the engine, the more troubles he was met with. I'm so thankful he is a mechanic by trade...

No matter what, though, he always has a smile for me. xx

Whilst Mr E continued with the bike repairs I wandered around the garden to find colour.

Specifically, I was looking for colours which nature had provided as a contrast to green, and in my garden this last week of winter it appears pink and red rule!

 

I also found this little guy and studied his personal apparel for colour combination, but it was his cute little spots that caught my eye! He almost looks like a living button...

So why was I outside searching for green companion colours?

Design inspiration!

 Here's the result...

And I think I see a new opportunity for more fussy cutting...

The floral is a print from "Sew Cherry" by Lori Holt, and the green pindot is from "Ruby" by Bonnie & Camille. Both orphan fabrics from my stash - and I think perhaps twins separated at birth. Aren't they a perfect pair?!

When I finished my photo expedition and the subsequent fabric foraging it was time for some lazy Sunday baking. A pot of tea and some fresh sour cherry scones for lunch...

...but before we had our simple meal outside on the back deck, I remembered I'd not yet shown you what I'd made with the small pile of leftover scraps of grey and red fabric from the Gratitude Bag tutorial I shared back in May (here). 

I'd used them to make this little table runner for the middle of our old outdoor table, so before I put out the lunch these photos were quickly snapped...

Because I only had narrow lengths of the fabric to work with, and barely any red, these six feature blocks are just 5" square. The small pieces of red tonal actually gave the simple table topper some pop which may have been lost if more red had been used. It finished at 17" x 10" - perfect for where it sits.

There are three Shoo Fly...

...and three with a 1" red square in the centre of a floral border.

It's amazing what you can make from scraps, isn't it?!

I'd best away to that fussy cutting...oh, what will I make I wonder...

TOMORROW: Drop by and meet my very first guest blogger! 
You are going to love her...I promise. ;-)

hugs

Tutorial to make the Gratitude Bag!

Did you stitch my 'Attitude of Gratitude" block, ready for use in today's tutorial?

The pattern is here in my shop as an instant download, and you can see more of the Primrose Sands fabrics I've used for the stitchery background and the bag assembly here.

Mr E and I go off on our Sunday adventures 'lightly packed' with just cameras, water and simple snacks, so I've really needed a smaller than usual bag to house basic girlie necessities of purse, phone and keys as we scale mountains and creeks, or wander country markets.

My 'Attitude of Gratitude' block, and Helen Stubbing's gorgeous new fabrics, were the perfect match for this useful project!

You will need to cut:

Grey Tonal fabric ~ one, 10" x 11" rectangle (this is for the 'Attitude of Gratitude' block) - or use your own stitchery - after stitching the block trim it back to 7.5" x 8.5".

Red Tonal fabric ~ one, 8.5" x 9.25" rectangle / one, 9.25" x 10.5" rectangle / one, 10.5" x 18" rectangle

Red and Grey print fabric ~ one, 4" x 42" length / one, 7.5" x 8.5" rectangle / two, 1.5" x 9.25" lengths

Fusible Pellon ~ one, 11" x 19" rectangle / 1.5" x 42" length

Red Buttons ~ one large, one medium 

Let's Start!

If you have stitched the "Attitude of Gratitude" block you can now trim it to 7.5" x 8.5". Make sure to trim it so you have 2" between the bottom of the block and the base of the stitchery...

Sew the 7.5" x 8.5" rectangle of red/grey print across the top of the stitchery. Press the seam open...

Fold over on the seam to make the front pocket. Machine sew a 1/4" seam under the top edge of the pocket...

Lay the pocket down on the 8.5" x 9.25" rectangle of red tonal fabric, raw edges even across the bottom...

Sew the pocket to the red backing with a scant 1/8th" seam around the sides and bottom...

Sew the 1.5" x 9.25" lengths of red/grey print down both sides of the pocket section...

...and the 9.25" x 10.5" rectangle of red tonal fabric across the bottom.

Fuse the Pellon behind, and quilt into the red sections not hidden by the pocket...

Fold in half, right sides facing, and sew up each side with a 1/4" seam to give you the outer bag...

Fold the 10.5" x 18" rectangle of red tonal fabric in half, right sides facing and sew a 1/4" seam up both sides. Turn right side out...

Make the handle by fusing the 1.5" x 42" length of scrap Pellon along the centre of the 4" x 42" length of red/grey print...

Sew the two long raw edges together with a 1/4" seam...

Turn right side out, press flat with the seam line down the middle of one side. Quilt lines 1/4" from the side edges...

Pin the handle ends across the side seams of the outer bag, right sides facing...

Sew in place with a 1/4" seam.

Push the handle inside the outer bag, and then push the lining in as well, keeping the side seam lines matching - the lining and the outer bag will have their right sides facing...pin the outer bag and the lining around the top raw edge...

Machine around the top edge with a 1/4" seam, but leave a 4" opening for turning out...

Turn the bag and lining right side out, and ladder stitch the opening closed.

Sew the buttons in place on the stitchery pocket...and you're all done!

Blossom and I went up the mountain today for some quiet time together in the fresh air, so my bag had it's first outing...

Perfect.

Tomorrow I'll share some photos of our day together, but for now I think you might have a bag to make?

hugs