A Completed Sandhill Sling!

I’ve started whittling away at the spring cleaning, sorting and making piles to donate. I’m trying to do an hour of sorting every morning. I still have two little Guidepost kids’ sweaters to sew together from the ones my MIL started and then I’ll package those up—there are about a dozen—and send them off. I plan to hike out to the greenhouse this afternoon and assess what needs to be done out there. We’ve had a week of warm temperatures that have melted quite a bit of snow. It’s too early to work outside, but it will be time to plant seeds soon. And I expect we’ll have chicks by the end of March. The farm store seems to have a good supply this year, so I’ll just get them there.

I got my Sandhill Sling done yesterday!

This came together quickly and easily. I was able to watch all of the videos, even though the sewalong is still in progress, as the links are embedded in the pattern. After some consideration, I decided to sew the lining in on the machine. Anna notes that it’s a bit easier with a free arm, but she doesn’t have one on her machine.

[Honestly, the only time I ever use the free arm on any of my machines is on the coverstitch for doing the hems on the sleeves of knit tops. I am so used to sewing on flatbed machines that I hardly think about it anymore.]

She also suggests basting in the lining before sewing. That does make a difference. I was able to move the bag through the machine—my industrial Necchi—without worrying about the lining shifting out of place. What makes this step so tricky is having to topstitch along the side of the zipper, down the side of the bag and around the base of the zipper, back up and along the other side of the zipper and down around the base on that side, then back up. This is not a large bag, so it’s a bit of a tight fit under the needle. I was happy with the way the topstitching looked when I was done, though. Having that machine in a treadle base makes it perfect for projects like this where I need to sew slowly.

The lining is hard to see because it’s a dark color, but it fits snugly down inside the bag.

Overall, this was a fun project—as are all of Anna’s designs. And I learned a few new techniques that I think will come in handy on the Slabtown Backpack.

I need to add some kind of extended zipper pulls, especially on that zipper on the side pocket. I used Coats and Clark purse zippers from Joanns because they were in my stash, but I don’t like them as well as the byAnnie or YKK zippers. The zipper tabs taper down and have too small a hole to install a leather pull. I’ll have to clip on some kind of charm or something.

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I have one more round of edits on the Cobbles pattern and then my tech editor will give it a final review. I am so happy to have found someone I enjoy working with. Tera has also weighed in with some good comments. I’m hoping to have that one listed in the store soon, and then I can start working on Big Top and Beginner’s Choice (which is going to need a different name).