“Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine,   A girl’s best friend. . .

Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine,  A friend in need. . .

Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine,  Me pride and joy . . .”

The words from the song that Betty Hutton sings in a 1940’s film resonate with me completely – but not the whole song because she is a machinist who is being sardonic and complaining. When I sing those wordsI really mean them! I do value my own sewing -machine and “sewing” is my default activity onto which I can always fall back when life gets me down.

Two weeks ago I decided to I sew a “knitting bag” as part of a “knitting kit” I was preparing for a friend’s birthday because she and her daughter want to learn to knit. Digging thorough my fabric stash I found a couple of incomplete bags I had forgotten about. They were part of a project on “Morsbags”. (More ha! ha! later . . .) Perfect. All I had to do was to attach the appliqué and stitch them up. The motif was a monkey whose arms formed the bag handle. As I stitched the first bag I had an inspiration: my friend loves penguins. Why not a penguin on her bag? Better still, a knitting penguin? Trust me to make the project complicated. But the satisfaction of working all day to get the bag right was well worth it. Better still was the reception my bags got from my friend and her daughter when I produced them.

With that project finished it was time to tidy up and put all my sewing stuff away. Uh! Oh! When I popped around see my neighbour for a coffee and catch-up she produced three IKEA cushion covers that were “far to good to throw away” and she was ”sure you could do something with them.” She mentioned shopping bags – ones with a gusset so that it would hold more than a flat bag. I should have politely refused! I have enough craftwork in hand – not to mention regular chores. But the black and white fabric was just crying out to be worked on, starting with using my Sharpies to colour in the design. More “Morsbags”. The implication of adding the gusset would be my challenge, especially since I wanted to use French seams and I would have to work out how to do a French seam on a right-angled corner. As I sewed I decided that the bags would be improved by the addition of a zip pocket. And I ordered “Morsbag” labels to add as a finishing touch. What are “Morsbags?” Well, according to Google, “‘Morsbags” was started in 2007 by Claire and Joe Morsman, who were looking for a name that would be unique and not TOO obviously ‘green’ / ‘eco’ / ‘recycled’ and came up with part of their name, added to ‘bags’. The aim is to replace every plastic bag with a re-usable “Morsbag” made from recycled cotton. (click here for Morsbags) And if you are going to the “Spring Knitting and Stitching Show” (click here), do carry. A “Morsbag” with you – you never know, your bag might be singled out to win a prize.

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