Preparing for Uganda

At the end of this month I am making another mission trip to Uganda. It has been over 2 years since I've been there, so I'm anxious to go! THis year I am going with another friend named Kathryn. I've been trying out different things to teach the ladies to sew. The challenge is always that I never know how many women will be there, how many days each one will be there, and the fact that the treadle machines don't work half the time, if we have them at all! So, I decided that we need a project to make with just hand sewing while they take turns using the sewing machine. On the machines I think we will be making this bag.

There are a few things I will change, but it's a pretty simple pattern. I added a pocket on mine, and if I make another one for myself, I will make pockets on the lining. Kathryn is not a sewer, so she will be my guinea pig as to whether this will be a good project to make!










I'm not really happy with the way the handle is put together, I didn't do the best job, I've done shoulder straps like this before, and they never look very neat.  But for our purposes, I think it will be good enough.


The lining has a velcro closure, which is fine.
All in all, it's not too bad of a bag.  I'm thinking it will be great for carrying around knitting projects, but I will have to exchange that velcro for a snap.  Yarn always snags on velcro