Finished Travel Bags and March Wrap-Up

I have wanted to complete this project for SO LONG! I bought 2 yards of this border print cotton shirting last January, with hopes that Covid would soon be behind us and the world would be opening up. Haha! I have made simple drawstring bags before, but I really talked myself out of them over and over again, complicating it more than needed. And then, when we went to Phoenix earlier this year, and ended up taking an ATV tour, our clothes were so dusty and sweaty that I wished I'd had a separate laundry bag for them. And I was determined to complete the bags before my next trip. I didn't make it...we went to Denver last weekend for a wedding. But, I flew out Saturday evening and we were back home Monday evening so I didn't really need it, this time. But I'll be ready for my next trip!! 

Oh, and using a border print just made the whole process so much easier and simpler! I measured the width of the border less the selvedge and with seam allowance and cut the top part of the laundry bag at 20" wide x 10.5" long. Then I cut the plain white fabric at 3", and the bottom at 4.5" for finished dimensions of 17" x 20". But I cut the fabric at 20". 

Oops. 

And I didn't allow for the casing area. 

Oops. 

So, it's smaller than I intended, and I'll likely make another one slightly bigger :) 

I cut the shoe bags for a finished dimension of 13" x 15" and made some of the same measurement mistakes. Seriously. BUT, they fit my shoes so, WIN.

I like the narrow black border that almost looks like piping!

If you're noticing a difference in the text, I blame Cricut! I had the bright idea to buy an Infusible Ink tee blank. I had some black infusible ink in stash and I knew it would outlast iron-on heat transfer vinyl. But, Cricut made this product to perform best at 380 degrees F. The original Cricut Easy Press only heats up to 360 degrees F. So it's not quite hot enough to fully sublimate into the fabric. Booooooo! 

When I got my Beatrice, I ordered a 144 yard spool of 1/4 cotton twill tape from Wawak for the low-low price of $7.91. I used it to mark my form up and still have a gazillion yards of it, of course, so expect to see it often! 

On the laundry bag, I made the casing too narrow and the double strings don't work as well. They work perfectly on the shoe bags though! (see my IG grid for a quick video)

The lining is white athletic mesh that's been in stash for I'm not sure how many years. I love that it's just slippery enough to not stick to the cotton, it has a little bit of weight to it but not too much. 

I sewed the top fabric to top lining, pressed it out, left about 1 1/4" open on either side of that seam and then sewed down the lining, around, up, left the other side open, then down, around, and up the main fabric. The only suggested change is to turn it once the sides are sewn and just sew/serge the bottom together to anchor the lining. I was going to shape the corners but just didn't have the room to do it and the results on the laundry bag are meh.

They're so cool! :-D I expect to get lots of use from them!

This month, I sewed 2 things outside of the bags and a PS5 cover that I started for my husband. I sewed 5 yards this month: 

• McCall's 7834 dress - 3 yards
• rayon challis from Fabric Mart
• 12 buttons
• McCall's 6996 cardigan - 2 yards (WIP)
• wool double knit from Fabric Mart

The McCall's dress was my Dozen Drafts project and I put a lot of time and work into fitting so yes, I love it! The cardigan is working up well and just needs hemming ("just" = the entire front, the lower hem and the sleeve hems!)

This doggone extra long McCall's shoulder...more on that later

Excuse my dirty mirror and toilet plunger. Doh.

I also had a goal of making two Machine Knit projects. I "only" got the 1 but, WHEW! The plaid-like pattern was hand manipulated the entire way and was a doozy! All worth it though because they are beautiful! Ravelry project

I started two books - one on Machine Knitting. While it is a resource, I do tend to read these types of books cover-to-cover. I am also a good way through The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

As of now, my plans for April include:

• Finishing the WIP I intended to complete in March
• Complete "A Dozen Drafts" dress
• Complete 2 machine knit projects

More to come potentially, after I pull my spring clothes out. I didn't get to that either this month! After finishing the McCall's dress, I had so much momentum, and then over the course of 3 work days I had 17 hours worth of meetings. I was EXHAUSTED every day! April is a little quieter. I do have plans to get with a MK friend, but hoping to get lots of sewing in!