BAGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 292, 10 December 1936, Page 13

BAGS.

FOR ALL OCCASIONS.

MAKE THEM YOURSELF,

Of the nature and uses of bags there is 110 end. Knitting bags, sewing bags, shopping bags, beach bags are always in request. A serviceable bag for picnics can be made from striped canvas used for deck chairs. The simpler kind is made by machining up the sides and putting on handles and these are very useful during the school holidays. A better made bag has a nicer appearance. For this the ends are shaped, and gussets put in, pockets machined inside, and the top finished with a zip fastener. This makes a really ornamental and useful bag. A cretonne bag lined with rubber is grand for a prospective seaside holiday.

A smart knitting bag is quickly made from a strip of material, such as cretonne or something similar. A piece 12 inches by 10 inches makes a bag large enough to hold as much knitting as one would want to take out when visiting. A piece of pretty silk for lining is also needed of exactly the same size. Machine both material and lining separately along the top at either end for two inches. To fix the lining in the bag turn in the ends and gather these round. Draw tlie gathers up to fit'a one-inch brass ring. Crochet the rings with coloured cotton to match and then oversew to the gathers with the bag inside out. Make handles of narrow strips of the material, and fasten these on either side of the opening and sew on two or three domes. Puff the ends out, and a smart little bag is finished. When in use, the wool can be made to run out through the rings, and two colours can be kept quite separate in this way. It makes a liandy little bag to carry under the arm. A larger size with more full-

ness is obtained by cutting a wider piece of material. The same kind of bag can be made by crocheting an oblong strip in pretty wool. Mount it on canvas and line it. Shaped gussets can be fitted at either end instead of the rings if preferred. Linen crash is useful for rapid decorative work, and makes effective articles to stand hard wear. The peasant embroidery is admirable for table runners, cliftir lincks or bags. One way to finish off the edges of runners is to fray out about an inch all round and then oversew the edge of the material. People with gardens where lavender and rosemary thrive, can send much sweetness into city homes. Both these flowers must be gathered at the right time, just as they open, and dried in a darkened room on the sunny side of the house and not in the sun. If put into bags too soon the scent soon becomes musty and mouldy. A few drops of oil of lavender added "to the dried flowers of lavender just before packing give' a delight fill fragrance. Rosemary flowers put up in muslin bags and packed in a box would be acceptable for future use with shampoos.