New Japanese Knot Bag

On Saturday I pulled out my sewing machine again to sew up this fabric (that I finished when we were at the Pettecote Junction Campground in the Grand Canyon of PA) into a Japanese Knot Bag.

This is a really neat little bag, and the pattern is free and quite simple to sew. I used my first bag for over a year before I decided I needed a new one. Here it is:

Cute little thing, isn't it? Now I did learn one thing when making this one, that it's best to stick with a light weight handwoven, and that means 8/2 cotton or lighter as warp and weft. The reason is that this fabric above, woven with 5/2 cotton (just a little heavier than 8/2,) sett at 15 epi, is rather difficult to turn inside out through the handles as directed by the pattern instructions. This is not too big a deal..I could have left an opening in the base of the lining which would have made it simple to turn. But this bag fabric also lacks the drape that the 8/2 cotton (sett at 20 epi) had. It is ok, but just a little stiff for this pattern. Next time I'll either try 10/2 cotton at 25 epi or return to the 8/2. Because there WILL be more of these!