A bag for memories

For many years my sister was a production weaver and after leaving university, I joined her in the craft show circuit. We spent long hours weaving, sewing and creating and from her I learned a freer, less structured way to design and construct certain items. One of these such items is bags. Over the years I have made many, many bags of all shapes and sizes, for all purposes. This is one of the two I have made most recently, both for my sister. Both bags feature photos she took of our Mom.

Mom loved flowers and gardens and she also loved coordinated dressing! Jo captured her in front of her tiger lilies this past summer as they made their way to yet another appointment. I love these photos of Mom and considering Jo took them with her iPhone, they are great quality.

I enlarged the photos via the printing process on my Mac and printed them directly on Jacquard fabric sheets. I backed them with some interfacing for stability and then I started sewing, using fabrics that seemed to fall into my lap. I swear the choices were predestined.

Joanne knits 24/7 and carries bags and bags of yarn everywhere she goes. I made this bag big enough for her to tote all kinds of balls and skeins with her. I also put a couple of long deep pockets on each end for her needles.

The finished size was dictated by the size of the pieces of fabric, keeping in mind that I wanted a larger bag. As well, the size of the printed picture required substantial amounts of fabric framing it for balance. I finished it off with a piece of correx (corrugated plastic sheeting used in the sign industry) covered in fabric inserted into the base to add strength and form.