The colour of Spring

At last, my lurghi has left me ( many thanks for all of your get well wishes ). Just in time too. Never mind the occasional hail, sleet or snow storm, the frogs have arrived in the pond so it must be Spring. Hurrah!


I sat outside to have lunch yesterday, granted I was wearing a thermal vest, polo neck and a fleece, but I was still outside. Glorying in the sunny blue sky, listening to the frogs and being startled every now and again by battling crows in the trees. Filled with a new sense of purpose I felt it was time to tackle the bag I had been putting off most of the winter.


On a shopping trip with a very good friend I was 'persuaded' to buy a lovely Linton tweed. Now, I use Linton fabrics quite often so I don't want you thinking that's what required her strong arm tactics. No, it was the colour. It was pink. And I do mean PINK! 


Being Dutch my friend has a completely different attitude than mine to colour. I hate the idea of falling in to a stereotype here but I think it would be fair to say that as a Scot I'm not the most flamboyant when it comes to hues, tints and tones. I'm not sure if that is a national trait ( but to be honest you just have to look at most of the ancient or hunting tartans to get a good idea! ) or whether it's more to do with being the youngest of 4 girls. As clothes were likely to be passed down the more practical colours were chosen, in classic styles that wouldn't appear dated by the time they reached their final recipient. 


With that in mind it's no surprise that when fabric shopping I tend towards the blues, greys, browns and greens. The joy of making bags is that although the outside may be practical, bordering on puritan, I can always shake it up a bit with a funky lining. Sort of like a hidden, guilty pleasure. 


But my friend was having none of that. She wanted to shake me out of my comfort zone. To stop me being practical and allow myself to be frivolous for a change, and not in secret. So yesterday I had a go, I'm just not sure about the results.

A work in progress

I found it really difficult to design and make something that was so far removed from my normal colour palette. I wanted it to be structured but squishy at the same time, so I put darts in the rounded corners, a central pleat for volume and a rigid top panel.


It's not a huge bag, the more space I have the more likely I am to fill it with junk and my shoulders won't stand the strain anymore ( it's an age thing I'm sure ) Again, I'm not sure whether I've got the proportions right.  I've used a vintage leather belt as the shoulder strap, it's a sort of toffee shade that I've tied in with the wool brooch embellishment (that's still a work in progress, it may need a little something added to it).


I wouldn't normally post an unfinished item but in this case I think I'm looking for a little feedback and inspiration. Moving out of your comfort zone might be all well in theory, in practice as far as I can see it just results in a lot of hair pulling and self doubt!