15 @ 40 // day eleven

If something is worth doing, it’s worth over crafting. I really need that on a tshirt or a drink bottle or something. In my defence, this time at least, it started out innocently enough.

Bear’s bestie asked if I could teach her to crochet. Absolutely, says I. Then I realised my one good hook was…less than presentable. Shout out to the 2020 mouse plague for that. Clearly I needed a new hook before I taught someone to crochet. Since I was paying postage, I may as well buy a second for her to keep. Who wants to let postage go to waste?

I checked in on her favourite colours, and had some new-in-packaging balls that fit the brief in stash, so that was easy. But then…it would be kind of weird to just give her a hook and some yarn, wouldn’t it? A project bag was the obvious answer. With Fifteen At Forty underway, there was only one solution to this very first world problem.

Overcrafting mode – ACTIVATED.

It was an obvious fit for this project, really. I love a good gift bag, whether it be for a birthday or graduation or a care package or camp gifts or a swap that someone still owes me a pouch for and you can bet I don’t let her forget about it. This bag would be the perfect opportunity to echo those projects.

The bag itself is the Finch Bucket by Stitch Mischief. It’s one of my favourite project bags that is my go to for when I need a workhorse bag with plenty of storage. I kicked around a couple of options with the board, but we all agreed this was the best option. I had a bit of a poke around in the container, in search of inspiration in my fabric and none of my green fabrics were really grabbing me. What if, I thought, what if I dyed some fabric, and used my Lino prints from a previous 15@40 project. The fabric choices came together quickly after that decision – denim for the base to make sure it was hard wearing, and calico for both the dye base, and the contrast fabric.

I had a particular colour in mind, though it took me a couple of goes to get it close to what was in my mind. Once that was sorted, the overcrafting continued, because I couldn’t just do a black print, or a blue print. That would be far too easy. Instead, I blended the black and blue to get something more like a navy to match in with the denim base. I must confess I was rather chuffed with the end result.

Of course, though, what would be a project bag, without an ACTUAL project? The rainbow wave blanket that I finished in my 2021 100 Days, the pattern of which was a group creation with my two chief offsiders, was the perfect project. A good range of stitch options, in an easy to pick up repeat rhythm. Off to photoshop I went, to create a cover, stitch guide, and full pattern.

The end result? Exactly the kind of ridiculously over-complicated, over-engineered-at-every-step-of-the-process that is my hallmark. Definitely a gift worthy of a spot in Fifteen At Forty, and one that has me wanting to dye all the things.

Today’s post is part of my “FIFTEEN AT FORTY” project, a fifteen day, fifteen project, celebration of creative exploration, to mark my fortieth year and my blog fifteenth. The journey so far has been amazing. The creation of the pieces I plan to share with you over the next fifteen days has been a revelation. I am brimming with inspiration and motivation for what is still to come.