Tutorial #4 and a GIVEAWAY

Welcome to week 2 of our ‘Simply Christmas’ planning. This week we will continue on with our gift making tutorials, we have a guest poster popping in and 2 giveaways!! Lot’s to look forward to!!
Our first tutorial this week is for this simple and very practical
Lined hessian shopping bag.
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At a time when we are all trying to be eco friendly by supplying our own shopping bags, there’s no reason why you can’t have a stylish bag. The hessian shopper is strong and durable and the design is so versatile you can change the measurements to suit your needs.
Rather than using the usual natural jute colour I have opted for the lighter Parchment colour and lined it with a pretty floral cotton fabric. A hessian rosette just adds an extra bit of pizzazz. I like the hessian bag for shopping but my teenagers use them for the beach, school and overnight stays.
To make the bag shown here you will need:
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1. Place the 2 pieces of hessian right sides together and stitch around three sides, leaving the top edge open. Press seams open.
2. Repeat this process with the lining fabric, but leave an opening in the bottom section of lining for turning inside out later on.
3. To make each handle, turn over a 5mm hem on both long edges and press with iron. Fold handle in half lengthwise, so the wrong sidtut1e of fabric meets and press with iron. Topstitch the long edge of handle. Repeat process for second handle.
4. With right sides facing, insert the lining into the hessian bag, so the top edges are matching. Before pinning in place, insert the handles on each side. (I positioned my handles 6 cm in from the edge of bag). Pin and machine stitch the top seam.
5. Turn the bag inside out through the small opening in the lining fabric. Slipstitch the lining fabric closed and reinsert into bag. Press the top seam edge flat and topstitch.
6. To make a hessian rosette, turn over a 5mm hem on all 4 edges of hessian strip and press with iron. Fold fabric in half lengthwise and press again. Gather the base of long edge with a running stitch and roll up, securing the base with small stitches as you go. When you have finished forming the rosette, attach it to the bag using small hidden stitches.
Note: The bag dimensions can be adapted making it bigger or small to suit your own needs,


tut3 Giveaway
In the first GIVEAWAY for the week, I will be gifting one of these beautifully lined hessian shopping bags to someone on my ‘followers list’ on Friday. Make sure you are registered for the weekly Friday draws. All giveaways will be open to Australian and overseas followers.


 

 


News from the studio:
With school holidays over it is back to normal routine in the studio this week with classes resuming and hopefully the Christmas E-course being uploaded. I say hopefully (with my fingers firmly crossed), after having such a disastrous week with my internet connection last week.
For my Australian friends, this months issue of Handmade magazine (Vol 25. No 6) features a profile about little ol’ ME on page 6 and 7.

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I wasn’t quite sure when this article was coming out but was thankfully alerted to it by a customer enquiry. And what a great issue the Country Christmas Craft issue is, featuring lots of our lovely blogging friends… check out Kris’ (Tag Along Teddies) beautiful wall hanging called Christmas Kisses, Vikki (Sew Useful Designs) has a gorgeous Christmas felt heart ornament, Barb’s (Barb’s Creations) festive yo-yo bag is sure to delight and finally, Fiona (Mother’s Cupboard) has the cutest snowman wall hanging. Didn’t I tell you it was full of lots of yumminess!!
With all this festiveness it must be beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!
I’ll be back on Wednesday with a friend and another GIVEAWAY.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne