A Partial Poppins Bag

The Poppins Bag class on Tuesday was fun. There were just two of us in the class plus the instructor. The other student and I discovered that we both had kids who graduated from our high school at the same time—her son in 2009 and DD#1 in 2010—and were now living in Ketchikan. Her son runs a guide business there. DD#1 didn’t know him in school, but Ketchikan is small enough that they may run into him at some point.

I did not remember, from making the Mini Poppins bag, how awful these instructions are. They are written in a narrative format, not a logically-numbered step-out format, and the terminology isn’t consistent. I was glad we had the instructor to walk us through what we were doing. We were also able to watch the videos that accompany the pattern. I’ve got lots of notes written on my pattern in case I make another one. The construction method is very clever and leaves no exposed seams, but it could have been presented more clearly.

We were to have the bag pieces quilted before class, although additional quilting is done during class. We were so busy visiting that we probably didn’t get as far as we might have were we working alone. I am about to sew the bottom binding onto my bag prior to making and attaching the base:

I will finish this, but probably not for a few weeks yet. I have also moved over to the Necchi industrial for the remainder of the bag. The Janome does okay, but making bags is far easier on my industrial treadle.

The instructor of our Poppins bag class is also teaching a series of classes on table runners using this Doug Leko book:

I was so tempted to sign up for the monthly sessions, but I know better than to fill my schedule with more classes. I did buy the book, though. Table runners seem to sell really well at the co-op sale, so I’d like to make some, and I like Doug’s designs.

I did no sewing yesterday as it was music practice day. I had an appointment at 9:30 am, ran errands, went to the first music practice at noon, came home and had lunch and checked on animals, then went back for the second music practice at 4 pm. We have a break next week for Thanksgiving, then two more practices before the concert on December 1.

I’d still like to make some more long-sleeve tops, too, as my wardrobe is woefully lacking in them. I was going to make another Nancy Raglan out of some French terry, but I couldn’t find my traced pattern. I had to get out the original pattern and trace another one. Organizing and labelling supplies is a work in progress. I do so many different kids of sewing, and each kind of sewing requires a different kind of storage system. I am considering making a master list with numbers on each bin.

Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and Robin is working (she subs), but she and I are going to Missoula on Saturday to pick up my new coverstitch machine.