The pattern is from Knitting For Baby. We used Classic Elite Renaissance yarn in dark and light purples for the body, base, handles and side pockets, and a coordinating variegated purple for the front pocket. The bag is made in 8 pieces, and there are 7 of us, so the distribution worked out well. When the pieces were all knitted up, we had a sewing/felting party at Tiana's house, replete with homeade NY Cheesecake and strawberry topping made by the hostess. We took turns sewing and the bag went together quickly. We kept an eye on the bag when it was in the washer since none of us had felted with this yarn before, and we didn't want the diaper bag to suddenly be wallet-sized! It felted at a good pace, and ended up being very close to the pattern dimensions. Tiana happened to have a Cuisinart box that was perfect for blocking the bag, so we slipped it on and left it to dry upside down for a few days. This yarn felts into a very soft, but also very fuzzy fabric, so when it was dry, I shaved it down with an electric razor and that made it look much more kempt. Kim and I went shopping for needlepoint canvas, fabric and buttons, a successful but somewhat stressful experience with two 3-year-olds and two 1-year-olds in tow at Witching hour. She did a beautiful job of sturdying the base by taking needlepoint canvas, doubling it, wrapping it with pretty fabric and tacking it down.
I knit and felted flowers for the front pocket using this pattern and then sewed the flowers and buttons to the pocket. 
I wrapped the finished bag in a big box, put a note to Ashley on it that said we would pick her up that evening for baby shower festivities, and left it on her doorstep at 6 am (she is my neighbor, so that wasn't as hard as is sounds). We of course had arranged it with Ashley's husband that she would be available that evening, and all worked out according to plan. And here she is, the happy recipient of the bag.
No comments:
Post a Comment