Okay, maybe that should be crafty-ness, but whatever. The point is, this week I got out my sewing machine (an amazing Christmas gift from my parents this year) and made something useful. I had been wanting to make napkins for a while, but there wasn’t a pressing need, so I put it off and put it off. Then, my parents visited on the weekend and, since my mum rented a car, I suggested we go to Parkdale, and specifically, the workroom. (My mum also visited the shop, where she picked out two skeins of yarn that I will turn into socks for her.)

I can 100% get there on public transit without much ordeal, but somehow it always felt like it was going to take my whole day, and it’s been cold, and, well, in the winter you can always find an excuse. We went, though, and I had some fun picking out fabric. I will admit that I expected that fabric to sit around the house for a while before I got around to using it, but then I cast on for a rather overdue baby sweater (the baby has not been born yet, but still) and realized I didn’t have a project bag for it. I know I could have used a Ziploc or something, but I hate doing that. Clearly, this was the perfect opportunity to get sewing.

I was going to wing it, but then realized I could probably do a quick(ish) Google search for a pattern and end up with something useable instead. After going down the rabbit hole of sewing blogs, I came out with this great tutorial by Jeni at In Colour Order. I was a bit nervous, since unlike with knitting, fixing sewing mistakes is not so easy, but I read carefully, measured everything twice, and followed exactly what she said, and, well, judge for yourself:

I chose to practice on some fat quarters I bought ages ago, in case it was a disaster, but since it wasn’t I think a few more bags will be made this weekend featuring my new fabric. I also bought some quilt batting, so I can add a needle-proof layer for sock bags. This one is more than large enough for the baby sweater, and would comfortably fit a large shawl or fair isle project. I am quite pleased.

I promise that there is no danger of this turning into a sewing blog, but it might pop up now and again. We don’t live in a big enough apartment for me to get into quilting, but small blocks? Yeah, that could happen… Ahem. Speaking of knitting and baby sweaters, though, what do you think of this? I love the yarn, but I’m worried it’s knitting up too dark (we don’t know the baby’s gender yet). Thoughts?