Pink or blue?

Another week has flown by and I've been busy at work, trying to get anything essential done before the end of this week as my attendance at the office will be a bit hit and miss for the next month. I start jury service next week, so currently I have no idea where I'm going to be at any time. After that I have holidays booked, meaning that work have been warned that if worse comes to worse, they may not see me now until September!

As I look ahead to a weekend filled with more dodging of showers interspersed with whacking eyelets in all the while wincing at pain in my knee and arm, I'm also hoping to work on this...

This is a simple messenger bag that I cut the fabric for a couple of months ago and it's taken me until now to finish sewing up. As you can see, it's made of a nice (but maybe a little boring) heavy boiled navy wool which was probably originally intended for men's overcoats.

The wool itself is a woven fabric which has been boiled so that it's shrunk to become very dense and stable. It may also have been giving an additional waterproofing treatment, although I couldn't swear to it. This is the remains of a three meter piece of wool that I turned into a mantle for a friend a few years back and has been sitting unloved in my stash ever since.

No pattern here. I just measured out the pieces as I saw fit and made a strap which I lined to stop it from stretching. I lined the bag using some calendered cotton left over from a ball gown I made up, ooh probably four or five years ago now. I added a couple of pockets to the lining as I think they always come in handy for slipping your purse or mobile phone into, especially with bigger bags where such things have a tendency to get swallowed up.

I am pretty much making this bag up as I go along. No pattern and I'm not really experienced in the bag making department, so this is a big experiment. I'm also trying to make this bag up mostly from whatever is sitting in my stash.

And that includes Mohair.

My intention with this bag was always (from the day I originally cut the panels) to embellish it with crochet motifs. I picked up a copy of Easy Beaded Crochet during our recent trip to Lichfield and I was inspired by a bag in there which uses these lacy beaded motifs on a felted (crochet) bag.

I have seed beads sitting in my stash as well and so I thought, why not add similar motifs to this bag? I think it would certainly give it a little more oomph!

So the only question remains... Pink motifs or Blue motifs?

I need to make a decision before tomorrow when I shall start the search for matching buttons.

And finally...

We have a new addition to our household, a little friend that Dave brought back from Maelstrom with him.
Meet Rydl, in doll form.

Apparently this doll was knitted up by a fellow player at Maelstrom after Dave admired her 'sock' in progress earlier this year. The sock turned out to be a glove, but the lady was impressed by Dave's knowledge of knitting and so she made him this doll.

(As always, click on the pictures to see bigger versions.)