Vintage-Look Clothespin Bag

When I was in Colorado in May, Mom gave me some vintage pattern transfer sheets. No envelopes or other identifying names - just the big newsprint sheets with various projects on each - so I'm not sure where they're from. They look a bit like the Aunt Martha patterns still available today, but I've never seen any Aunt Martha ones like these. Anyway, I loved the one for a clothespin apron, with the image of a happy little clothespeg jumping on a bar of soap.

Years ago, I bought a cheap clothespin bag at the grocery store. The bag was a rough, paper-like material. It finally started to fall apart recently, so I jumped at the chance to use that old pattern. I cut a piece out of the edge of an old cotton sheet, too thin and worn in the middle to use on the bed anymore. The pattern suggested all different colors for the embroidery, but I was going for more of a vintage look so did the whole thing in red (a bit more about redwork here). I took the old bag apart so I could reuse the metal hanger part and the plastic strapping that holds the top open. I sewed up the new bag, complete with inside liner in the same cotton. I used some decorative stitching to hold the strapping in place, and punched in a couple of eyelets for the hanger part. I didn't realize how rough the old bag was, until I noticed how nice it was reaching into the new bag made out of lovely soft cotton.

I'll let you in on my favorite "secret" source for redwork and other outline embroidery patterns: children's coloring books. You can find just about anything, from Disney characters to Christmas scenes to fairy tales, sized just right for pillows or quilt squares. For anyone wanting to embroider their own happy little clothespeg, TipNut has the same transfer pattern as a scanned pdf on her site, along with links to lots more clothespin bag ideas. In fact, her entire site is a wealth of tips, patterns, and tutorials. Check it out!