Regency Workbag

Since I have decided to join the world of historical re-enacting, I thought that I should equip myself with items that might come in handy during events. For inspiration I turned to my copy of 'Jane Austen's Sewing Box' which I mentioned in a previous post, was given to me by a friend at my tea party last month. It contains some of the most beautiful sewing projects and there were so many things that I wanted to make, but since my sewing skills are rather limited I decided to stick to making something simple. I settled on a workbag. From attending the Battle Proms I have realised that in Napoleonic Re-enactments, women spend most of the time sitting around (when it is not an event that includes living history displays), and that it is a good idea to bring along some kind of entertainment, such as knitting or crosstich, that doesn't ruin the period look of the encampment. A workbag seemed just the thing in which to store said knitting or crosstich.  The bag pictured in the book is made of white silk with beautiful embroidery work, which sadly is beyond my talent, so I decided to use a patterned material so I didn't have to try my hand at making it look pretty! :)

I went to my material stash and came across an old duvet cover which I had kept as I loved the pattern on it - a beautiful blue and white toile. I seem to love making things out of discarded bed linen (2 dress and now a bag! :) lol ). I had to add a lining as the the toile was too thin, and the drawstring is a white ribbon.

I made it whilst crying my way through 'Bright Star'! Here is the finished project. Very simple but I love it. :)

My workbag

A close-up of the material