Shoe bags

One of my challenges is to reduce my stash of fabric and I do have several tubs of material in my sewing room. Earlier in the year I made book covers and Japanese knot bags, both were a lot of fun to make and I donated them to charity, therefore using up some fabric.

I rarely make anything for myself to wear anymore, one because its takes so long and two because its actually cheaper to buy ready made.

A girl friend of mine was mentioning a few weeks ago that she hates packing her shoes in plastic bags when they travel anywhere and suggested shoe bags would be a good thing.

As they will be travelling back to their home country soon after being away for a fair time and having two seasons of clothes and of course shoes, I wanted to make some shoe bags for her and her hubby.

No real idea of how to make one at first but I used the design of the Knot bag and cut out a circle by running a pen around a plate that I have and thought it would be an ideal size. Next I measured around the circle as I needed that much material to join and then finally I looked at the length of the bag. Some of the first ones were a bit big so I cut them down in size, bag was finished by sewing a piece of cord in at the top making it a drawstring.

I used up some fabric and even found two difference colours of cord, goodness knows what I bought them for or when. I have made about a dozen bags and I packed a postage bag with seven or eight and posted off to my friend, should arrive in a few days. I will make a couple more for us to use with we travel.

Japanese Knot Bag

One of the forums  that I belong to, were discussing this the other day and it was a free pattern. It looked good and pretty easy so  downloaded it. First one I made, it didnt seem to work and I wasnt sure why. I asked Warren to come and read the instructions to me while I pinned it together.
This is the result

I made the pink and grey one first it was a bit small so I increased the pattern. The red one is silk and I will use it for red hat by putting by bag insert into it. The grey one is just big enough for toothpaste and brush, shampoo, soap and hair brush so it will go into the caravan to take to the shower block.

Once I go the diretions right, they are quite easy to make with no fastenings. So the story goes Japanese women use them for craft work, looping them over their arm leaving both hands free to craft. I remember seeing women in China walking along the street knitting, these bags would have been ideal. I have tried standing and knitting but they used to walk and knit, that takes a lot of skill.