Market Bags

A client recently brought me a project that presented some unusual problems to solve.   She is a knitter and made some cute market bags which were very roomy and had two handles.   The problem was that as soon as anything was put in them, they would stretch like crazy.   She wanted to have them lined.

Here's the problem:   How do you sew a fabric lining to a chunky hand knitted bag?   Very carefully!  Ha!

As these were going to be gifts, she wanted to have them embroidered, so I did that after coming up with a pattern to fit inside the bags.   They have a square bottom which presented a few issues but I think I got it all worked out.

The handles stretched anytime the least amount of weight was put inside the bag, so I decided the lining had to be attached to fabric that also lined the knitted handles.  NOW it's sturdy!

I used a blue thread on top and a pink thread in the bobbin and a large zig-zag stitch to attach the cloth handle to the knitted handle.   It was slow going and the knitting kept getting caught in the sewing machine foot, but I finally made it work.

And this is what the inside looks like when it was all sewn.  The fabric is a nice heavy duck and will wear well and I think these bags will last a long time.

And here is the navy bag with yellow-gold lining.  Nice and sturdy.

 

Wait'll we show this to the girls at Flying Needles!   They have all been asking me if I could line their bags........looks like we have a plan now.

 

Bag Lady,

Debbie