I haven’t played bingo since I was a kid, but it’s a popular game among adults in a lot of places I’ve lived, including the town where I am now. Last summer a lady I know stopped at my table at the Farmers Market to look at my Halloween bags and asked if I could make some modifications to accommodate her bingo needs – as in outside pockets to put her dabbers (markers) in.
Never says never. I said I’d give it a shot and she was happy with the outcome. Another lady saw her bingo bag and wanted one, so I made one for her as well. She told me that others were interested and she asked me to make a bunch and she’d sell them for me at the local bingos.
All righty. I figured if they didn’t sell there, I would put them on the table with my other bags at this summer’s Farmers Market. Well, she sold all five that I made for her… and asked for more! Good grief! I’d put away all of my bingo bag instructions and was getting ready to move on to the next project… But I guess I’ll be making a few more bingo bags first.
If I change something in the instructions – and I always do – I write it down or else I’ll forget how I did it. I write it in pencil because, as I did with these bags, I’m constantly tweaking. I started out making the outside pockets about an inch and a half from the bottom, but that made them sag. So now I place them so they will sit flush with the bottom of the bag. Makes it a bit harder to cut the corners because it’s so bulky, but it sure looks better.
And the last bag I made had a cowboy theme, so I put some bling on it – star-shaped studs – and did some fancy stitching on the handles. (Look for more of this on future bingo bags!) Those stars look rather nice, I think, but sheesh, they were a pain!!! to sew around. I was using my walking foot, but I couldn’t stitch a straight line along the stars. The foot kept veering off to the side. I unstitched and redid it three times before I finally gave up. I used my narrow zipper foot to stitch straight lines down the sides of the handles, and it worked just fine.
Right now I’m dividing my free time between sewing and gardening. My greenhouse is full of tomato and pepper plants that need to be repotted because they’re outgrowing their plug trays. I’ll be doing that this weekend, in between making some more bingo bags.
Until next time,
