Sari Doesn’t Cut It: How To Make A Woven Messenger Bag Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 1 Materials and Tools Needed • Three Foot Tri Loom • Knitting Nancy (or Double Pointed Needles) • Crochet Hook • Yarn Needle • Safety Pins • 8 skeins of Darn Good Yarn, Recycled Resolution Yarn (three triangles, minimum of 315 yards for outside of bag, and a minimum of 120 yards for handle) • 2 skeins of Mountain Meadow Wool, Pinecone on Sun (three triangles, minimum 315 yards for inside of bag, in addition to needing some to be used for sewing and felting the bag) Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 2 Where To Go Don’t have what you need to get started? Here is a list of resources that may help you: • Hints Tips, Tricks and Techniques – Tri Loom Weaving Written by: Barbara Herdman http://www.lulu.com/shop/barbara-herdman/tri-loomweaving/paperback/product-935395.html – Roger’s Looms http://www.offgridlife.com • Trilooms – Tri Looms By Jim http://stores.ebay.com/Tri-Loomsby-Jim?_rdc=1 – Roger’s Looms http://www.etsy.com/shop/RogersLooms • Yarn – Darn Good Yarn www.darngoodyarn.com – Mountain Meadow Wool www.mountainmeadowwool.com Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 3 Using the Continuous Weave Method (CWM), create 3 three-foot triangles with Darn Good Yarn and 3 three-foot triangles with Mountain Meadow Wool (6 total). HINT: If you are not familiar or need a refresher on how to weave, please go to http://weavingboar d.com/uploads/tril oom_new_basic_wea ving__inst.pdf for free basic weaving instructions and demonstration. Picture of Darn Good Yarn’s Recycled Resolution Sari Silk in the Continuous Weave Method on the three foot tri loom. Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 4 Begin to make the body of the bag. This is your outside, Darn Good Yarn Recycled Resolutions. Join these two together first. Separate your triangles according to yarn, making sure not to confuse the m. Take two of each triangle and combine so that you have an inside and outside. Join the two triangles together by using your yarn needle to whip stitch, or use your crochet hook. This is your inside, Mountain Meadow Wool. Join these together next. Overlap and join again. Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 5 Now that you have the front and back joined together, you want to fold over the right side of the fabric so it meets the left side. Make sure you join the bottom as well, so nothing falls out! The front of your bag should look like this. Front of Bag Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 6 Next, is joining the top, or flap of the messenger bag. This is your outside, Recycled Resolutions triangle from Darn Good Yarn. Take your last two triangles and join them together, once again using your yarn needle to whipstitch or your crochet hook. Once joined, you will then attach it to the back of the body of your bag. This is your inside, Mountain Meadow Wool. Join these together all around. Please note: Your triangle for the top is supposed to be too big. This is because you are sewing the overlaps to the front of your messenger bag. Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 7 Front of bag, with flap down. Please note: I have found that the bag was heavy enough to fold down on its own and stayed no problem. If you are unhappy with it, I would suggest either inserting a magnetic button to the inside, or a button on the outside to secure it. The choice is yours! Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 8 Back of bag, with flap down. Please note: Because the sari is handspun, it can be irregular and inconsistent in some spots. If this s the case, and you are unhappy with some spots, use a yarn needle some of your extra sari to weave in extra and fill it in. Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 9 A great 4 strand braid tutorial is: http://www.thepurseworkshop.com/ basic-braids.html Lastly, you are going to want to create the cord used to make the strap. I made the strap where it was comfortable for me (17 inch drop from shoulder to bag). But feel free to accommodate to what feels best for you. Even better! Here’s a 5 strand one, complete with pictures and videos: www.backstrapweaving.wordpress.c om/tutorials/tutorial-4-strandbraid/ I made a total of 4 cords from a knitting nancy. DPNs will also create this. I then created the 4 stranded braid and attached it to each side of the top of the messenger bag. Not comfortable? A simple 3 strand braid will work too! Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 10 Go through your project. Tug on it. Pull on it. Find and look for any weak spots. Does it look like it will hold, but still looks questionable? Reinforce it with your leftover Mountain Meadow Wool. This is where your yarn needle becomes extra handy, as it can force its way into small spots, where your crochet needle can’t. Double and triple knot your ends and weave them in so that you can’t see them. The point is to have this as perfected as possible, as the next step seals the deal. Washer and Drier time! This is the felting process, and is imperative. I washed mine on warm/cold (to avoid any potential bleeding with the silk), with homemade laundry detergent, but any will do. During this time the yarn will stretch, and not only become water laden, but heavy. It’s ok! Just be prepared for a good lift while taking it out of the washing machine into the drier. Once in the drier, the bag will shrink and shape. Due to the multiple layers, it may take a couple of times for it to be completely dry. Once satisfied, shape and let it cool. Double check for flaws. If you have to re-sew, just repeat this step until you are completely satisfied. Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 11 Questions, Comments, Feedback? This purchase comes with unlimited support – please feel free to ask any and all questions. Think the instructions could be a little clearer? I love constructive criticism. Let me know how I can make it better for you. Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com peaknits@hotmail.com Rebecca Marie Duran www.peaknits.com 12
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