This Crafting Life

Gryffindor Illusion Bag, Part 3 {knit pattern + tutorial}

Now, if you've completed Parts 1 and 2 of the Gryffindor Bag, you're ready for the final (and most fun) part of them all! It's finally time to see how your bag looks!

I started by pinning my two insides to my two outsides. I want both of the right sides facing out (wrong sides together). I started with the pins on the bottom, just doing a simple zig zag stitch (which tends to help hold together knit better)

the bottom on the back side of the piece

the bottom on the front illusion side

I ran the same zig zag stitch up the sides of the piece (which again I didn't take a picture of... le sigh)

At the top, you're left with a funny overhang, so I cut a slit in it like this:

Opened the top part of the bag like this:

Folded in the corners:

And then the whole top part:

Then I pulled the top of the knit over the edge of the inside fabric and pinned:

And then took it through the sewing machine with another zig zag stitch.

After you've done this to both sides (make sure when you attach the piece with the pocket that the pocket is facing up!!!)

Then, trim off the excess fabric:

Next, lay the right sides of the knit together, pin around the edges that should be closed and sew a zig zag stitch all the way around. (again, sorry there's no picture of that, I guess I was in a hurry!) Turn your bag right side out and you're ready to finish up!

After the bag was all assembled, I attached the shoulder strap and button tab and button, just by using yarn and an embroidery needle.

I hope this tutorial has been helpful and that it has shown you a new way to take any pattern and make it your own!

For a Recap:

Gryffindor Illusion Bag Knitting Pattern Part 1

Gryffindor Illusion Bag Knitting Pattern Part 2

Gryffindor Illusion Bag, Part 2 {knit pattern + sewing tutorial}

Posted by Lori Steffens No comments:

Welcome to Part 2 of the Griffyndor Illusion Bag! In this portion of the tutorial, we'll be making the pieces that are the inside of the bag. During this portion, you won't need any of the knit pieces.

First, you'll need some fabric. I chose some creme colored plain fabric that I had and a contrasting maroon yarn (that matched the color of the bag). First, I laid one of the bag pieces on the fabric and cut out 4 pieces that were about an inch larger all around. (silly me didn't take pictures of that part) Then, since I knew I wanted a pocket inside, I cut another 2 pieces that were the same width but about half the height of the others.

Then, working with two pieces pinned together, I started making diagonal lines with my sewing machine:

Then I turned the work and made more diagonal lines to form diamonds. (for some reason I'm an idiot and didn't take pictures of these pieces finished by themselves, but you can see it in later pictures) I did both large rectangle sets in this fashion.

Then I moved onto the pocket. I wanted the pocket to look a little different than the sides, so I did a double line on this piece, again, pinning both pieces of fabric together:

Here's what the finished pocket piece looks like. (for the sides, imagine the same thing but without the double lines)

Then, I folded over the top of the pocket and pinned it:

Followed by a nice little zig zag stitch to hold it down:

Then I laid this piece on top of one of the side pieces, folded the rough bottom edge under and pinned it into place where I wanted the pocket to be in the bag:

Then, I ran a simple straight seam across the bottom part of the pocket:

And I knew I didn't want just one large pocket, so I went ahead and sewed a straight line to divide the pocket:

The sides are held together with a simple basting stitch and will be dealt with in Part 3 of the Gryffindor Illusion Knit Bag Pattern!

For Review:

Gryffindor Illusion Knit Bag Pattern Part 1

Moving Along:

Gryffindor Illusion Knit Bag Pattern Part 3

Gryffindor Illusion Bag, Part 1 {knit pattern + tutorial}

Posted by Lori Steffens No comments:

As you all might know, I'm crazy about making insanely personal gifts for people. I take gifting opportunities as a time to try out new techniques, challenge myself and most of all, I focus on making a gift that each giftee will love (and use!).

I have a friend who is a crocheter/knitter as well, so I knew I wanted to make her something truly unique, something that she would never think to make herself. First, I decided I wanted it to be a knit, because she's just starting out knitting and I wanted to do something to show her how cool knitting can be. Second, she's a huge Harry Potter fan, so I knew I wanted to do something Harry Potter themed. I found this great chart pattern for an Illusion Scarf over at The Leaky Cauldron.

Illusion knitting is something that I've never done before, so I figured it would be a fun challenge to figure out. I picked some beautiful maroon and gold yarn and got to work. The pattern was quickly rewarding, but quickly got boring. I was actually sitting there wondering how on earth I was ever going to conceive of making a whole scarf like this... when inspiration hit. Who says it has to be a scarf? No one. I'm the designer here... (sometimes I have to remind myself of that)

Trouble was, I couldn't figure out what else it could become.... so instead I set it aside and worked on other projects for a while. After finishing up a few crochet projects, I was hankering to knit again, and so I rummaged through my project box to find something I was working on that I could easily pick back up and content myself with, and ran across this piece again. I dug it out, finished up the pattern and sat there staring at it waiting for inspiration to hit. And hit it did! I'd just read an article on sewing your knits, how to seam them with a sewing machine and make something really durable. So, right then and there, I decided I was going to make it into a bag. And thus, the Gryffindor Illusion Knit Bag was born.

This beauty wasn't the product of just one night's inspiration, however, it took several weeks to see it to completion. Since it was such a long process, I'm going to divide this tutorial up into three parts. This first part will be the actual knit pattern for all the pieces that you need to complete this bag. The second part will be the sewing tutorial for the inner parts of the bag, and the Third part will be putting the whole bag together.

Griffyndor Illusion Bag Knitting Pattern

Materials needed:

1 skein of maroon worsted weight yarn (I used Vanna's Choice)

1 skein of gold worsted weight yarn (again, I used Vanna's Choice)

Size 8 (5mm) Circular or long straight knitting needles

yarn needle

Instructions:

For Front of Bag:

Work full knitting chart found for Gryffindor Illusion Scarf

Knit 2 Rows in Main Color

Bind off.

For Back of Bag:

CO 40

Work in Stockinette Stitch for 90 rows or until piece is same length as front (expect some curling to happen around the edges, this will stabilize after blocking and putting it together)

For Buttonhole Piece:

CO 10

Knit 3 rows

Knit 1, k2tog, yo, yo, k2tog, knit to end

knit 3 rows

For Strap:

CO 200

knit 8 rows (or to desired strap thickness)

Block all pieces as such:

Let dry and set aside for the next part of the tutorial!!

Gryffindor Illusion Bag Part 2

Gryffindor Illusion Bag Part 3

Scouting Sunday #14: St. Patrick's Day Fun

Posted by Lori Steffens No comments:

So if you recall, this series is designed to share with you some of the things I've found during the week that I love- most are diy, crafty items, and I think they're all great! If you're a blogger and you've been "Scouted" be sure to grab a button at the bottom to put on your blog or post!