The sweater bag is complete.
I took it all around the house attempting to find a place with enough light that I could show you a clear picture of it.
I have this problem all the time. The solution would be a) to get one strong light somewhere in the house specifically for this purpose, or b) to take pictures in the daylight, for heaven’s sake.
It is never light outside when I think of taking these pictures.
However, now that the Christmas tree is gone, we have to decide whether to return the furniture to its previous configuration, or to keep the reading corner. The boys want to keep the reading corner. It was their idea. We have been planning on scoping out the yard sales for a good strong lamp for that corner anyway. Then we could not only read there, but also take pictures.
It occurs to me that it is probably not the strength of the lamp that is in question here, but of the bulb. We have all these low wattage bulbs for energy conservation. If I put a single 100 watt bulb in for a reading light, it would feel like an enormous luxury.
Until that takes place, I offer you these dim pictures, in hopes that you can see roughly what this looks like. I 
used McCall’s pattern 5198 and a motheaten lambswool sweater. I lined it with the microfiber I have been using for my SWAP, added a strip of buckram inside the gusset, and finished it with a button from my button jar.
Now here are the things I don’t like about it.
For one thing, it seems awfully big. I took a little pleat in the pattern to make it smaller, and it is still enormous. It looked fine on the pattern envelope.
Possibly the models are both six feet tall, so it is more in proportion to them.
The issue of size is not fixable, unless I take the whole thing apart and start over, so I may see whether I like it better after I’ve carried it a bit.
The other thing I don’t care for is the button, which is of course eminently fixable.
I think that I would like for this one of those buttons that looks like a slice of antler with a couple of holes in it.
The button I used is the closest thing to that that I had in my button box.
It is too small. In fact, it may be that having such a small button contributes to my feeling that the bag itself is too big.
I will be searching for a larger and more suitable button, possibly 
with an interesting shape like these Chinese ones.
I am trying to think how I could solder one, or make one from polymer clay, or in some other way create something special and unique in the way of a button. I think the bag itself is rather sporty, so a big plastic one would be okay, but here is the opportunity to do some mad wild thing with a giant button. I am not one to wear giant fancy buttons on clothing, so I may never have this opportunity again.
There are things I like about this purse, though.
It turned out well. I followed youall’s advice and did not line the strap, made it thinner the way I wanted it, and quite like it.
The construction was quite successful overall, in fact.
And I made a respectable buttonhole, too.
Now here you absolutely cannot see the buttonhole on the inner flap. But I wish you could.
I had intended this to be a practice buttonhole for the ones I need to make on my jacket. The flap was too thick to go under the presser foot on my sewing machine, so I opted instead for a bound buttonhole, using a scrap of black lining fabric.
It turned out very well.
This is about all I accomplished this weekend.
Oh, I undecorated the house, got another 30 rows done on Pipes’s sleeve, and spent some fun time with family and friends. So I guess that counts as accomplishing something.
But I didn’t finish the fact-checking, get my house clean, or make the pair of pants I intended to make.
On Mondays, it is hard to decide whether it is more satisfying to have gotten a lot done over the weekend, or to have rested up so you can be glad to go back to work.
On Saturday, it often is much more appealing to rest up.
I love that bag. 🙂 Did Joespha tell you that I read your site? I told her that I pretty much adore you and you inspire me. 😀
Most lamps are made to use a specific maximum wattage in the bulbs used in them. Putting a 100 watt bulb into your lamp may not be safe. The fixture where you put the bulb in usually says what max size.
You will find that you’ll get better photos with two lights. One of them does not need to be a bright as the other. You need one main, bright light, and one to fill in the shadows. Something very adjustable, like a goose-neck lamp or ones with long, jointed arms would work best for both reading and photography.
I like the bag. The Joanne Fabrics around here has some plastic buttons available that look like the ones in your photo. If you buy real antler, it’s going to be expensive. But then, it’s a real wool handmade bag.
It doesn’t look too big in the photos, but there’s nothing to compare it to in size.
Well done. All of it, including the pictures.
[Trivia: The possessive of “youall” for my generation is “yourall’s,” a word that I am helpless without. From what I hear around me, however, the youngsters that still use “youall” (rather than “y’all”) tend to say “youalls’es.”]
Oh, it turned out very pretty indeed! I do like your idea of the giant horn button. I have a very similar pattern (but it’s Vogue) that I foolishly started making out of pink brocade and lining in pink satin…While it’s very pretty, it has no substance — hence anything I actually put in it would sink to the bottom and it would look like I was wearing a pink grocery bag over my shoulder. I guess a bag made out of pink brocade doesn’t exactly have to be utilitarian, though.
Now that looks better then professionally…
It looks about the right size to me. The buttonhole looks fine too…
looks great!
OT: would your son the future drifter like this?
I hope it’s the start of a trend, too. I could do with things going RIGHT for a change.
There are more things to try to fix tomorrow, but so much suddenly went right, I decided not to push it. The sudden headache helped me decide.
There’s a chance I might get somewhere close to catching up with entropy if this keeps up!
I like that big bag too. Save it for a gift if you think it’s too large.