I intended it to be a tote bag, but now that I look at it, it looks alot like my mother's old clothespin bag - especially since it is hanging off the apple tree.
My goal for this project was to keep the integrity of the pillowcase as much as possible, yet creating some detail (elastic shirring) for interest. I began by cutting the yellow hem off and setting that piece aside for later.
Then on the other end of the pillowcase I trimmed back about twelve inches from top and three inches from side for wrist opening and access to interior.
Opening up the top like this allowed me room to shirr the top six inches with elastic thread - twelve rows placed 1/2" apart on both front and back. I used two bobbins (hand wound) of elastic thread.
After steaming the elastic shirring to tighten up the puckers, I encased the raw edges of wrist / access opening in bias tape. Then I turned the case inside out and used a 1/2" seam to hem the bottom opening. I encased the raw seam in bias tape to provide a nice finish since I wasn't lining the bag.
The next step was to take the hem piece that had been set aside earlier and cut open the stitched end. I folded it in half lengthwise to make a long ribbon. Stitched wrong sides together leaving about a four inch opening for turning. Turned right side out, pressed, and stitched opening closed.
Then I wrapped the fabric ribbon around the top (middle of shirring) of pillowcase, knotted, and tied in a bow. And this is the final result:
2 comments:
I think you did a great job on this bag. I love the shirring!
I immediately thought clothespin bag too--that's why I like this so much. It has a really vintage feel to it, and I think it would be a comfortable bag to carry and easily reach into. Nice job!
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