Clearly Organized Bags

Around the Bobbin has a new pattern, called Clearly Organized, which is a set of 6 sizes of zippered pouches made out of clear vinyl. They can be made with handles or not. As one of the testers of this pattern, I chose to test the 2 largest sizes, since I thought those would be the most useful to use as project bags for either quilting or knitting. The larger bags measure 12" x 15" and 16" x 16". I love that you can clearly see what is inside these bags, making it easy to find your project or supplies or whatever you keep inside of the bags.

The pdf pattern is on sale for $8 (regularly $10), that's 20% off!  Sale price good through midnight November 29, 2020 (CST). Go here to buy the pattern.

Here are the 2 larger sizes I made~

I used a sewing theme fabric for this bag.

While only one fabric is required, I didn't have enough of the main fabric, so I combined it with an accent of purple fabric at the top where the zipper is and the under side of the handle is purple too.

Show side-by-side to see the size difference.

I wanted to show different backgrounds in these next photos~

And here I filled the bag with some fabric.

2 folded Fat Quarters inside this bag to show you the room in this bag.

Be sure and grab your pdf pattern before midnight the 29th of November (CST) for you 20% off. No code needed. Only $8 instead of $10. 

And to see all the other tester's Clearly Organized bags in various sizes, check out Lisa's Blog post here.

Pin It Now!

Japanese Rice Bags Large & Small (Komebukuro)

I made a couple of Japanese Rice Bags (called Komebukuro in Japanese). They were used to carry rice in Japan as offerings to temples or shrines. Today we make and use them to carry all kinds of things and they especially make great project bags for knitting or crochet and other things too.

There are patterns and tutorials and video tutorials online for making one and they are quite easy to make. I followed along with Stuart Hillard, a pleasant British chap as he showed how to make one on his YouTube video. They can be made in any size. 

I made a large bag by cutting my squares 9" square. I also made a small bag by cutting the squares 6" square. I am now using the rest of this Asian fabric for the exterior of 2 more bags that I cut 7 1/2" square. So that will end up as my medium size bag.

This is the large bag.

The bag is roomy inside.

Here it is with the drawstring cinched closed. I used some shoelaces and cord stops to keep it closed.

This is the small size.

Drawstring cinched closed and I used a cording I had and cord stops to keep it closed on this one too.

Just 3" difference in the cut size of the bag squares.

You can make a variety of sizes and nest them inside of each other like Matryoshka Dolls. Once I finish the medium size bag, I will place it inside the large and the small inside the medium.

These can also be made using a variety of different fabrics for the outside of the bag. Or use up smaller scraps and make the bags in patchwork, or use up some extra quilt blocks. These bags do contain batting squares in them, so you could also quilt each square before assembling them into the bag. So many creative ways to make one....or 2 or a hundred, lol!!! 

They would also make great gift bags! Place a gift inside the bag and then the recipient not only gets a gift, but the bag itself makes a wonderful gift as well. Especially useful to a knitter (or crocheter) as a project bag. In fact, what a great gift to give someone who knits (or crochets) by giving them a bag like this with some yarn inside.

Pin It Now!

Large Drawstring Project Knitting Bag in Echinacea Fabric Print

Besides sunflowers, Echinacea (coneflowers) are my favorite flowers. I bought 3 colorways of this Echinacea Glow fabric (by Anna Marie Horner) to make some things for myself. I made this large project bag for my knitting and used that cute owl print for the pocket. It went well with this colorway of this Echinacea print.

I love this project bag in the large size (the smaller size is great too). It holds my project in the bag, has a handle and a drawstring closure, plus I added a slip pocket on the front and a zippered pocket on the back of the bag. Zippers and yarn don't mix well because the yarn can (and does) get caught on the zipper, so I didn't want a zippered closure or a zippered pocket inside where the yarn is, but a zippered pocket is perfect on the back of the bag.

The front pocket is perfect to hold a pattern if it is printed on paper.

Zippered pocket on back of bag away from the yarn so it doesn't get caught.

The perfect zipper pull with charm.

Peeking inside the zippered pocket.

The bag is quilted and here it is with the drawstring closed. I use cord stops to keep it closed.

Bottom view.

My current knitting project inside the bag, which is a pullover sweater.

Side view.

Inside the bag is roomy.

Batik lining fabric.

I do have this style bag in a different print in my Etsy shop in both large and small sizes (without the owl) and I have another large one for sale here on my blog with the owl (check bags for sale at the top of the blog). I can also make you a small or large size in the colors of your choice, just contact me if you want one of these project knitting bags.

Pin It Now!

Large Drawstring Knitting Project Bag in Batik Fabric with Knitting Owl Print

I made this Large Project Knitting (or crochet) Bag in batik fabric and added that cute owl knitting print that I made into the front pocket. The bag as a drawstring closure with cord stops to keep it closed when needed. A zipper pocket on the back of the bag to keep loose items secure. The front pocket is perfect for holding your knitting or crochet pattern. Inside is nice and roomy enough for large knitting projects or just large skeins of yarn.

To purchase this bag, scroll to the end of this post.

Drawstring pulled closed.

Back with zippered pocket.

Inside the zippered pocket I used a hand dyed fabric.

Hand dyed fabric for the lining.

I just love this little owl knitting! I bought several of these prints to use on project bags.

The perfect charm I used for my zipper pull.

A magnetic snap to keep the front pocket closed.

Pin It Now!

Drawstring Project Bags in 2 Sizes

I love a good project bag for knitting. I made one a few years ago and really liked it, but it was not large enough for larger projects or larger yarn skeins, so I increased the size of the bag and I really like this size a lot! I made 2 in the larger size and one in the original size. This bag was something I saw on a video and I made several changes to it, in fact so many changes it is more my design now. I will be making more of these bags because I have a few cute prints that would lend themselves really well to a knitting or crochet project bag. I have this print pictured also in a gray with red colorway, I have a sheep print, and a llama print in 2 background colors, so I will be making some of these in both sizes using those prints.

Lots of photos to show bag inside and out and with yarn in use too.

The project bag features a front slip pocket, a carry handle, a drawstring with cord locks and a zippered pocket on the back of the bag. This is the larger size and it measures 14" wide x 11 1/2" high to bottom of casing and 13 1/4" H to top of casing, 3 1/2" deep. This bag is not quilted, but I used fusible fleece and interfacing on all the fabric, which made this bag a bit more structured. 

Showing the depth of the bag and the drawstring with the cord locks.

Here is the back of the bag with a zippered pocket to keep your smaller items secure.

I found these cool charms a while ago and use them only on my knitting bags and I add beads to make a nice zipper pull.

Here I show how the bag looks once you pull the drawstrings. I didn't secure it closed yet with the cord locks. That I show in another photo.

Inside the large bag is nice and roomy to hold your yarn and knitting.

Here is the drawstring closed with the cord locks so no worried about the drawstring loosening until you unlock the cord.

Inside the back zippered pocket. Did you notice my multi-colored zipper teeth? I saw a zipper like this on a bag making group and I asked the woman who made her bag if she colored the zipper teeth with Sharpie Markers and she said she bought the zipper like that. Well, I decided to color mine with Sharpie Markers on a white zipper to give it a bit of pizzazz. Kind of fun and it turned out looking good. What do you think? 

The bag on the left and in the middle are the larger bags and the bag on the right is smaller.

Here is the bag in action. You can fit your instructions in a plastic sleeve cover and it fits in the front slip pocket with wiggle room to spare.

A ball of yarn and a project in process fit nicely inside with extra room for more yarn skeins, if needed.

This is the inside of the second large size bag.

Large bag too. On this bag I quilted it and did not add interfacing to the exterior pieces, just to the lining and zipper pocket. I like this one better as it feel softer, yet is still structured enough. For a project bag it doesn't need to be overly structured. I experiment a lot to find just the right ingredients for certain bags. Measures 14" wide x 11 1/2" high to bottom of casing and 13 1/4" H to top of casing, 3 1/2" deep.

For this bag I decided to use a #5 zipper, which is wider that the #3 zipper I used (with the Sharpie Marker colors). I do think I prefer the #5 zippers better, so I will be using that size from now on for the next bags I make.

Inside the zipper pocket.

Another zipper pull I made with the yarn charm.

Drawstring cinched up and locked with cord locks. I also added Kam snaps to snap the front pocket to keep it closed if carrying smaller items inside. The snaps can be left unsnapped for adding taller items like instruction sheets in the pocket. I also added a few crystals for a bit of bling on the front.

Instruction sheet inside the pocket.

Here is the small size bag. I also quilted this bag like the 2nd large one above. The finished measurements of this small bag are 12" wide x 9 3/4" high to the bottom of the casing, and 11 1/4" high to the top of the casing and 3" deep.

#5 zipper used here too. Plus rivets on the strap and sides of pocket.

Beaded zipper pull with yarn charm.

Inside zipper pocket.

Inside the bag.

Drawstring cinched with cord locks secure. One Kam snap added to pocket to help keep smaller items secure inside the pocket.

Just to show you that this is the only direction the instructions would fit, but they do stick up out of the pocket too much. However, you could fold the instructions in half and it would fit perfectly into the pocket that way without the plastic sleeve cover.

While this project does fit inside, it will soon grow larger as it is knit, so this size project bag is much more suited to knitting socks or a scarf.

Large project bag with purple handle and drawstring casing in my Etsy Shop here.
The small project bag is in my Etsy Shop here.
Pin It Now!