The Easy Way Out.....

Since twining wasn't as easy to explain and do as some of the other basket making techniques, I decided to do the easiest finish that I knew how for the bag. But first let me show you the raised stitch that you see on the side of the bag.

It is actually a wrap that I use when I am doing wicker. It is a single stranded wrap. You can either use one of the weavers that you are doing the twining with and come up short later on or you can add an extra length of thread for just the raised row. That is the method that I prefer because that way I don't run out of one thread before the other when I go back to twining.

It is basically two steps forward and one step back. You simply loop the thread around a spoke and come back to the front. Go to the next spoke and do it again. All the way around. If you are doing it right, you will be going in front of two threads and back between them each time. If you look carefully at the photo, you will see that the thread is looped around one spoke and I am about to go around the next one.

To finish the bag I cut all of the spokes about 1/4" from the edge. It looks like fringe at this point. I put Aileene's Fast grab inside the bag and pressed all of the fringes to the inside.

I had about ten inches of the two weavers left when I finished. I left them attached and stopped at one end of the opening on purpose, so that the handle would be in the right place.

I made cord with the two weavers by twisting and twisting tightly until the thread started to curl back on itself. You can see it in the middle and right at the edge of the purse. Hang on to the end so that it doesn't unwind. Pull it out and find the middle of the twisted piece. Grab that spot and, still hanging on to the end coax it to curl back on itself. It will make a nice cord. This technique comes in handy for making rope like cording for all sorts of trim.

After it was curled back on itself to make the cord, I put some glue on the end that I was holding and stuck that and the piece still attached to the bag to that side of the bag. Then I simply took the other end of the cord and stuck it inside the other end of the opening.

Tessie is very pleased with the outcome. She has decided to go green and use it for a shopping bag for the time being.

She is standing on the base of my brand new Ott Light. Last Wednesday at minis I had the chance to try out Joan's Ott light. I liked it so much that I got the urge to go shopping this morning. I had a 50% coupon for Michael's. You have to love those coupons! That one saved me about $40.00! It says on the tag that it prevents eye strain. I am starting to be a believer. I like it a lot.

I need to go back and test it some more. I still have to finish the cozies for the remotes.

See you tomorrow.