I have finally lined my peacock tail bag! Hurray! I put it off for several weeks after the CAL ended making up ridiculous excuses because I'm not as passionate about sewing as I am about crocheting. I have made so many crochet and knitted bags over the years and I just don't use them as much as I should because they are not fully functioning bags without a lining. It wasn't going to happen this time. Of course, I ambitiously decided to insert a zipper making the exercise even more daunting and leading to further delay.
The lining is leftover Kaffe Fasset material purchased five years ago from quilting shop Poppy Patchwork in my old neighborhood of Westbury on Trym in Bristol. I bought this glorious fabric to line a knitted Debbie Bliss cable bag that I made in 2011 Fiddly Fushia Bag. This was the last and only other time I have lined a bag!
I told my Friday workshop students that I was going to line the bag making up a whole host of excuses for the delay and they teasingly told me "challenge yourself" - a phrase that I am very fond of saying to them! My sweet crochet friend Jodie who writes the wonderful Lupey Loops blog also encouraged me. I do find telling fellow crafters about my plans stops me from procrastinating quite as much!
I started with the peacock tail bag cal lining tutorial from Lilla Bjorn Crochet for a general idea and then visited my local sewing studio Thimblefingers to buy my interface and zipper so that I could get a few more tips on how exactly I was going to go about making the liner with the zipper. The best tip from the extremely helpful owner was where exactly I should attach my liner. I had envisaged sewing it an inch or so below the opening but I was told that the seam would be more robust if I chose the existing natural seam between the colorful rounds and the band around the top. My lining isn't perfect but I am very pleased. I know that I will take my bag out far more now that it has a zippered lining. I even added a cellphone-sized inside pocket. Go me!
I found two helpful online tutorials for adding zippered linings to crochet bags if you're feeling inspired to have a go. Fab crochet designer and blogger Stephanie of All About Ami has a tutorial for a lining with a zipper and a circular base: Crochet Zipper Pouch. Stephanie gave a link to a second helpful photo tutorial from super crochet designer Jesseyz of Chocolate Mints in a Jar Zippered Lining Tutorial.
Well now that I've achieved this I'm feeling confident enough to make a project bag or two. I'm going to use this super cute project bag tutorial from the talented Sam, crochet designer, blogger and podcaster from Betsy Makes.
If you'd like to tell me about your experiences with lining a bag, please do let me know in the comments below. Anyway, do have a wonderful week y'all.
I couldn't help myself from jumping on the CAL (crochetalong) bandwagon again. This time I'm making a bag (or purse as they call it here in Texas) designed by the wonderful crochet designer Tatsiana Kupryianchyk aka Lilla Bjorn Crochet from the Czech Republic. I'm on part five and having such fun learning another new technique - overlay crochet.
In one of my recent book purchases Crochet Master Class (I wrote a book review here) there is a section devoted to this technique by Melody MacDuffee. She writes:
"I had always wanted to create something in the medium of crochet that looked like a mandala or stained-glass rose window. When I eventually found my way into this technique, I knew I was there."
The book describes Overlay Crochet far better than I could:
"densely textured cable crochet with color changes on every row or round...long stitches cover up horizontal rows or concentric rounds behind them...unwanted ones disappear like magic"
Tatsiana's CAL pattern is well written with very clear photos and video support. And I'm extremely impressed that this CAL has been translated into Dutch, German, Spanish, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, French and Hebrew. Following the hashtag #peacocktailbagcal I can see versions of this bag being made all over world. So cool! I find myself leaving comments "beautiful", "wonderful colors"... and wondering if the recipient can read English but Instagram helpfully has a translate function.
In my mind I can visualize overlay crochet as the perfect technique for a Christmas tree ornament. And Tatsiana has three gorgeous ornament patterns for sale. My favorite is her Starry Dream design. Now if I can resist another CAL I might just make some as gifts.
Have a great week y'all and please do let me know if you've tried overlay crochet before or if you're feeling tempted!
