In my Sewing box: Needlepoint Bag

This seems to have been a year where I’ve actually finished a whole bunch of sewing projects for a change! Instead of flitting around from one Herculean venture to the next, I’ve taken on small, manageable projects with gratifyingly short timelines, and a definite end in sight.

I started this needlepoint design by Beth Russell at the end of the summer and completed it soon after I returned from Montreal. Beth Russell's needlepoint kits come with the canvas pre-printed with the design (this one inspired by a mural at Castell Coch in Wales), along with the requisite wool/floss. So once I separated and labelled all the wool colours, I hummed along with the sewing at a steady pace.

Once the needlepoint was finished, I oscillated between making it into a pillow, like I had done before, to frame it by itself, or to convert it into something more utilitarian. In the end, I settled on using the needlepoint as a panel in the front of a simple zippered bag. 

I used unbleached, woven linen to frame either side of the needlepoint panel on the front, and on the back of the bag. For the inside lining, I used vintage, printed cotton fabric in a light, celery green, and finished off the bag with piping in pale, silvery-grey grosgrain ribbon, and a buttercream tassel on the zipper pull.