FAL Finish: Tidy Trug

One of the (many) items on my Q3 FAL list was this tidy trug, which I started at a workshop in July of this year but was languishing on the 'it doesn't need much doing to it for it to be finished' pile in my sewing room.  Adding it to my FAL list was just the impetus I needed to get it finished, it's just a pity that I didn't manage to keep the impetus going and blog about it.  Or finish much else on the list...

This is how it looked at the start of the quarter:

I think the thing which slowed me down was, quite disgracefully, buying some fray check for the buttonholes on the handle!  The original pattern had an attached handle of quite a different (and stylish) shape but I decided that I wanted my handle to swivel down so that it would be easy to get things in and out of the trug.

After some stitching (closing the gap in the lining, top stitching round the trug and again in the ditch between the lining and the outer fabric), some fabric ripping (the buttonholes in the handle, not accidental ripping!) and some fray checking (smelly stuff!), it was finished by the end of July.

Here's how it looked then and more recently (after it had been out for the day to my friend's studio - I was layering and pinning a quilt and took this along to carry my supplies):

Those Ikea tubs are really handy for safety pins!

The pattern is by my very talented friend Beryl Frank of Knot (not available for purchase) and uses Decovil Light to provide structure.  I bought the outer fabric with my Scraptastic Tuesday voucher from Fat Quarter Shop; I bought another print to be the lining but decided that a solid would be better and found this leftover from a bag project.  (Well, I say 'leftover', but what I really mean is that I bought it to line a bag I was making for Mam and then we changed our mind about what to make so it went in my stash!)  The pink 'lace' trim was bought from a local haberdashers, as were the (glittery) buttons.  The trug also has bag feet on the base, you just can't see them in the photos!

Now I've finally blogged about my finish, I can link up with Adrianne and the Q3 finishes party!

Other than that, I've managed a bit of sewing (I'll tell you about that in another post), quite a lot of knitting (that'll also be another post as I just need to block it and I can call the Sakura shawl a finish) and, well, very little else!   I'm still waiting for the new raised bed to be built in my garden (any day now, I hope!) and I've been tending my 'to be planted' queue and wondering how many more times I'll have to water all those little pots (I do hope I'm down in single figures now!), so once that's built I'll have to race out and get planting before the soil cools down.

Archie has been seeking out the sun:

I'll take a patch of sun wherever I can find it...

And Alfie has been to stay (only for the afternoon!):

Someone very close to me can't be trusted out on the front without being tethered to the house.  I'm naming no names...

And there was some gentle and dignified argy bargy over beds:

Look how unimpressed Archie is by the whole business...

Thanks for popping in!