Flower Power! An unplanned first solo sewing project

At the end of last year, with much assistance from Mom, I finished my first sewing creation. Today I hit another milestone: my first solo project. I started off with modest goals: to see if I could setup and properly thread the sewing machine my Mom gave me. Using the well worn manual as a guide, I managed to pull this off. There's so many nooks and cranny on this machine, it's a wonder I got this far.

I carefully positioned some scrap fabric, just like Mom had shown me, and made a line of stitches. It worked!

Juiced up on my own success, I searched my memory for a quick project to tackle. This haversack was the first thing that came to mind. As for fabric, I went with re-purposing a fatally stained table cloth. I figured the upcycled material would cushion any disappoint when this whole experiment went wrong.

I cut out a rectangular strip of fabric, folded it in to position and carefully pinned everything in place. And then remembered, oh crap!, you have sew the project inside out to have the finished side showing. After re-pinning the fabric, I ended up with this:

The top fold makes for the main pocket, while the smaller fold on the bottom, is a smaller pocket on the closing flap. For a better view of what I was going for, check out this video.

I carefully sewed the edges together, and to my great surprise, I had a bag that looked very much like what it was supposed to! Next, I needed to figure out a strap. For that, I busted out some metal grommets I had picked up last year. It took a few attempts to figure out how to install them, and of course, more care has to be taken to install the finished edges in the right position. The finishing touch was the discovery of some random cheapo carabiners I had lying around that fit in the grommets perfectly.

I cut a strip of 1" webbing and attached it to the carabiners. My first solo made creation was officially complete!

Technically, I should pose with the bag to truly show its scale and finish. Yet, I don't think I can quite pull off that look. Still, I'm amazed that what started as throw-away experiment, turned into a technically functional item.

Look out beginner level sewing projects, here I come!