Sewing on Plastic 2

As I had enjoyed the different outcome when sewing onto PVC plastic, I thought I would play around with it a bit more.  The bag project seemed like a good idea.
We had to research the history of bags and I found interesting information about the use of pockets that ladies in Britain tied around their waists.  Initially they were worn under their skirts but later they became a fashion accessory and were decorated.
I have always loved crewel embroidery and Jacobean designs, so this was a great chance to indulge myself.
I found lots of examples of Jacobean embroidery online.  I also researched some books and found that crewel embroidery does not refer to the style of stitches or embroidery, it really only refers to the use of wool as the embroidery thread.  Apparently crewel embroidery can use a large variety of stitches that appear in other sorts of embroidery, it is often the first sort of embroidery mentioned in embroidery books because it uses so many different stitches.

Anyway, I decided to run with this.  Part of the assignment was to marry the old with the new, so I decided to do free motion machine embroidery.  I have not used a different thread in the bobbin but decided to try this time.  I used some of my tapestry wool, it was a perfect thickness.

I made my design and traced it onto some dissolvable fabric so I could have a symmetrical design - no way could I have done that free-hand on the machine.
I used water soluble pens from Crayola but the colour did not wash out completely in a couple of parts and has made the wool a bit murky.  I will try to use a better pen next time, if there is a next time.

The original idea was to have a pocket, or bag, that has a clear front so that you can always find where things are in your bag. Initially, the pocket was going to simply be the plastic front and the cloth back but then I thought about the need to have some things that you might not want to have on public view, so I made a separate section at the back.  It even has a pocket for an iPhone.

So far the design is not completely practical but practicality was not the point of the exercise, so I am not worried about that.

I am pleased with the design and how the wool has come up. Of course, it is not in the same class as hand embroidered crewel work but it was fun to do and I might do more and get better at it.