April is almost gone and spring is finally here. This was the last bit of snow in our yard this week:
The aspen are letting their furry tails fly in the fresh spring wind - and soon the lawn will be full of them to be raked away.
The willows are in full bloom, their yellow colour can be seen from far. I hope you are not allergic!
The birch are ready to start spreading their pollen after a few warm days, and the tiny leaves will remain "mouse's ears" only for a short time. You can notice them growing by each day. Heavy rain is falling as I write, and it will make nature greener in no time. The temperature has cooled down to below 10 C (50F) which is normal for this time of the year.
Christmas hyacinths of last winter or the year before; I have thrown the bulbs in our garden compost heap in the winter and now they surprised me with new flowers.
Chive has survived the winter very well in my vegetable bed.
And so has the parsley.
Today is the day to show the first bag of our little European Bag Club. Melanie, Simone, Suzie and I decided to make a bag from the same pattern for May Day, and we used Lisa Lam's book The Bag Making Bible. This is the pattern on the cover picture, a reversible bucket bag.
I have shown my fabrics earlier, and this is how I used them. I added a plastic hose inside the handle.
To make things easier, I joined the ends before sewing the bias binding on the top edge of the bag. The polka dotty side has a pocket for my train ticket.
This is the checkered side. My button is smaller than in the pattern because a) I couldn't get a 4 cm self-cover button, and b) because for some reason I made the button loop shorter than instructed.
The bag was very easy to make because the instructions were clear and easy to follow. I'm looking forward to the next Bag Club project! Have you visited the other participants already?
We must endure Winter to be rewarded with the beauty of Spring. I really love your new bag--pretty taupe and white but I love the dots with the surprise plaid on the back. Have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeletethat's a very nice bag you've made, i like the different fabric combinations.
ReplyDeleteI love when the new growth comes out and shows us its color. YOur bag is really neat. Hope your doing good. Hugs, Marie
ReplyDeleteGoodness - - - I believe the progress of YOUR s _ _ _ _ _ has passed ours! All our snow is gone, but I don't believe we have that many trees that close to looking alive again!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to NOT say s _ _ _ _ _ as every time I say it - - - we get more s _ _ _
Ulla, I love your version of the bag! What a great fabric choise and what a good idea, with the hose. I'll have to remember that one!
ReplyDeleteI can feel the wind going through the aspen. Lots of movement!
And the powder of those blooming willows are covering our cars and furniture outside. Makes many people sneeze, even me (o:
Off to make my bag post now!
Have a lovely weekend.
Love the close up of your plants - nice to see them once again, right?
ReplyDeleteI'll take the bulbs you don't want. That is one fiesty Christmas Hyacinth.
And your bag is lovely! Thanks for the idea to put tubing in the handle. Good support and light weight.
Beautiful bag, Ulla! I never heard of using plastic tubing for the handles - great idea! Soon I hope you'll be able to be outside with the warm sun on your face!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Die Tasche gefällt mir von der Form und auch der sehr hübschen Stoffe wegen, ausgesprochen gut! Nun bist du gut gerüstet für die Frühlings-Shoppingtour ! Eine schöne Idee, dieser European Bag Club! Werde gleich mal die anderen Teilnehmerinnen besuchen.
ReplyDeleteLiebe Grüsse und eine wunderschönen Frühling euch in Finnland!
Barbara
Your bag looks wonderful! I love your tubing idea. After I finished my version, I was disappointed by the floppyness of the handles.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you are having Spring too at last.
that tan dot fabric is sweet. very nice bag for summer outings. can't wait for your next bag reveal. hugs.
ReplyDeleteGreat bag! and you finish so quickly. The tubing is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteIt must be nice to see the snow all gone. That bag is very spring-like and elegant. I really like the fabrics you used.
ReplyDelete