Further progress

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Well, it seems that posting about my personal crafting here is helping me get more done with it, at least for now, though there’s only one thing that’s changed enough since last week to make it worth posting a photo.

First of all, I went into my sewing room and realized I couldn’t do some things until I removed the wooden crate (with internal cedar box) that I’m painting. So it’s had more primer added, and the next time it’s warm enough, I will start to paint it green.

Dark blue denim bag made by sewing closed the leg holes of a pair of kid jeans and cutting off the legs to make a bag with pockets. The way I sewed the legs closed means that there's little stubby bits of the legs left. The strap is held onto the D-rings with clips; there's a slider to adjust the strap length as needed.

Once I’d removed the box, I was able to sew the straps onto one of the jean bags to finish it. I sewed the D-rings onto the waistband using bits of strap, and the rest of the strap hardware onto the strap itself. 

Some of the bar tacks on the jeans are red, so I picked a red strap from the limited color range at the fabric store. 

The inside of the waistband showing how the D ring is sewn in place, and one of the red bar tacks described in the top post in the thread.
Click to enlarge

I zig-zag stitched the ends of the short straps that hold the D-rings to keep them from fraying.

Then I folded the strap in half, threaded the D-ring on, and then stitched it to the inside of the bag along the seam lines of the waistband. I would ordinarily have stitched a square over the ends with an X shape in it, but the waistband of these jeans has elastic in it and I didn’t want the stitches to interfere with that.

Close up of the strap ends resting on the bag, to show the described construction.
Click to enlarge

I threaded one end of the strap through a clip, and stitched it in place. The other end of the strap was threaded through the slider, through the clip, and then looped around the metal bar in the middle of the slider. Then I pulled enough slack through so I could stitch the very end that’s wrapped around that metal bar to itself and nothing else. Now the strap can have its length adjusted.

I have two more bags to finish but I discovered I don’t have the right color thread for the straps. Figures!

I’ve also gotten a bit further on the necessary sweater. I’m concerned that my gauge has changed, and so I’m going to wash it on the needles and decide what to do with it after that.

I’ve knit a few more rows of the garter stitch shawl.

I’ve counted the squares in the scrap yarn blanket, and I need to knit at least seven more. But first I need to actually locate the bag of yarn for the squares!

Bonus cat photo is a blast from the past:

Small kitten standing with her hind legs on a cardboard scratching box with one front paw on the floor and the other front paw moving quickly toward a brightly-colored pompom. She’s out of focus because of the movement.

Kitten Shadow bapping away at one of her favorite toys. I like that it’s out of focus; it conveys something about her movement.