Bread Bag--Third Finish 3rd Quarter FAL 2019

Parts ready for stitching

My niece announced her engagement last month. I thought that I had better get the bread bag supplies out and completed because it along with the chicken placemats would make a nice shower gift. The pattern and fabric for the placemats was a gift from my friend Martha.

This bag is designed to hold the rolls at the dinner table. Because it has batting, it will also keep the bread warm. There were many small pieces to this bag. I thought it was cute because of the placemat of the chicken appliqué. I read the directions and I thought that I had followed the directions. . .but, I didn't. These days, pattern designers use the least amount of paper possible to produce patterns. One way to conserve space is to limit the directions and illustrations. One of my talents is carefully interpreting the directions in a different way than was intended!

I could have saved myself some time had I placed the comb/wattle/feathers and beak behind the chicken appliqué body rather than inserting each into the appliqué body. Oh well, once I had

Finished bag

stitched it, I wasn't ripping! In the end, it looks great. I love how whimsical the bag is.

I had picked a couple fat quarters from my stash for the lining and outer bag; but, I needed two pieces that were about 15 inches square for the lining and two pieces that size for the outer bag. A fat quarter wasn't large enough! I needed half a yard of fabric for the bag and the same amount for the lining. I looked through my yardage stash and found a piece of fabric that featured shades of gray and black circles printed on a lighter gray background. There was a little more than a yard. The circles reminded me of eggs and I thought the print would make the ensemble more modern so I chose it.

Once I had stitched the appliqué, constructing the bag didn't take long. Then, I decided the napkin rings were too cute not to make. I cut out the pieces and stitched them together.  The directions were to stitch the shape. Cut a slit in the back of a single layer of fabric. Turn the fabric right side out. Whip stitch the opening closed. I stitched the white this way; but, it was difficult turning the white right side out with this method.

The ensemble ready for gifting

For the yolks, I stitched around the outer edge and left a space to turn the shape to the right side. Once I turned it, I pressed and slipped stitched the opening closed.  This was the better technique. Of course, once I had finished the napkin rings, I needed napkins too!

I wanted to purchase a linen napkin in the placemat colors--black, grey, red and yellow. I looked on line. I did some shopping in stores because I thought that I could find single linen napkins for a few dollars each. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I enjoy shopping. . .NOT! I was unsuccessful in my search. I rummaged through my stash and found a dotted fabric which was barely enough for four napkins. I made those and called the project FINISHED!

I used 2 1/2 yards of fabric for this project. I have now sewn 57 1/2 yards of fabric from my stash. My goal in January was to sew that amount of yardage out of my stash. I'm excited to have met this goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It will be interesting to see how many total yards I sew this year! This was goal number 12 on my 3rd Quarter FAL list.