A Handmade Bag for January {Starting my monthly series}

   Last year I challenged myself to make a rag rug (a different type) every month of the year and blogged about it (I did miss one month and still hope to play catch-up). This year I thought I would be fun to have a new challenge.

    When thinking through some options of things that would be fun to do and which I could do using things that I had on hand (I really don't need to buy anything - we have a lot!) I decided either handmade hats, bags, baskets or patchwork projects would be fun. The kids agreed that those would be fun (though the boys thought maybe we should do some wood projects instead - and I hope to but I don't know that I would be able to do one monthly). So I put up a poll on my blog sidebar and asked your opinion. Quite a few of you weighed in with what you thought would be interesting but that didn't end up being all that helpful for choosing as 3 of them tied and the other one was only one vote behind.

   Anyway the choosing of the theme was back to us and after talking more with the kids we decided on Bags. I probably will do some of the other things this year too and blog about them but it will be bags that I will try to have a new post about each month.

   I actually have made several new bags recently (the one I am sharing today was made last month and I made a couple this month too) so I should be ahead of schedule I hope!

  This bag was made as a new purse for me. I unfortunately don't have a tutorial on this one (but I plan on doing tutorials on most of them) as it was a very quick project that I was in a rush to get put together right before our trip out to Reno in December.

  This purse is a typical project of mine in that I was wanting a new purse before our trip but just hadn't found the time to do it with all the other things that needed to be done. However the day we were to leave I was able to get everything packed and ready to go with an hour to spare before we left on our trip so I decided to see if I could get it done. Ken did end up being a little late getting ready himself (trying to finish things up at the office) so I ended up with a bit more than an hour which worked out great for getting the purse done (just not so great on getting down to the cities at a decent hour for sleeping before our early morning flight).

 This purse was made out of nearly every bit that I had left from an old wool skirt. It is wool on the outside and I used the skirt lining material to line the bag and to make the flower (which Mara helped by melting the edges on) for the outside decoration.

  My favorite aspects of it are the little cell phone pocket on the outside which makes it so I can now get to my cell phone before it goes to voice mail, the flower, the strap so I can carry it over my shoulder and the largeness of it. Of course a downside of the largeness is that things can get easily lost inside (though not my cell phone now!) but I can at least carry along my knitting or crocheting project or put my Bible inside and I like that. I did put one inside pocket in it but that isn't enough to keep everything organized.

  Here are some reasons that I think it is fun to make homemade bags:

• You can get a new bag for free by using things you already have.
• You can make exactly what color and style you want. (My new purse matches my wool dress coat)
• You don't have to go shopping. Something that is NOT my favorite thing to do.
• You can be creative.
• It will be one of a kind and you won't mix it up with anybody else's bag.
• Bags can make nice gifts. (2 birthday gifts this month had homemade bags as a portion of the gift.)

 Some of the bags that I have already made or am working on making and plan on posting about are: A cloth trash bag for your vehicle, a bag that goes on your bike handlebars and holds water bottles and snacks, pannier bags and a child's activity bag. I also hope to make  a pretty and sturdy duffel bag, a new back pack, a camera bag and I am sure I will come up with some other bags to make.

 What sort of bags do you like?