Leaves on Linen Project Bag

A scattering of embroidered leaves, stitched upon soft and worn linen, becomes a sweet drawstring project bag. 

A handmade project bag.

This is the first project bag I have made after admiring for so long those stitched and sewn by the very talented Melissa Wastney of tiny happy.  While my stitches are nowhere near as fine or as tiny as Melissa's, I am happy all the same with my simple leaves on linen. 

 Pieces ready to be sewn up into a project bag.

The pattern for my project bag came from Melissa's book, Sweet and Simple Handmade, which I borrowed from my local library. The fabric came from my stash: with the leaves embroidered on the aging linen of a very old tea towel; the lining is a very soft cotton printed with tiny fruits; the casing made from scraps of silk that I dyed in a workshop on natural plant dyes. I used a sheer gold ribbon I had here too for the drawstring though I think I will replace this with a much narrower, silk ribbon to make the bag close more readily.

A handmade linen bag lined with a soft printed cotton.

This project bag is large enough to hold a small knitting or craft project, a gift for a dear friend or a good novel and one's reading glasses (if, like me, you need them). I plan to make several more, just like this one, but instead of leaves I want to stitch feathers and flowers, berries and butterflies, maybe even mushrooms!

Meg