Needlework Tuesday - Bags for Fencing Equipment

Last week I received the fencing equipment that I needed  including my sous plastron (half jacket) and jacket.  Yippee.  The only item I'm missing is my lame (overjacket for electric scoring).  With all this gear to carry back and forth I needed a large bag.  Of course I could have bought one, but that wouldn't be satisfactory to a sewer.  I would search each seam and piece of fabric used to determine whether it was of any value. arg.  Better to make one myself.  Time was an issue, so I needed something quickly; I can always sew a second bag later at my leisure (okay, don't start laughing).  I chose a pattern by M'liss Rae Hawley from her book Fat Quarter Quilts.

It's called "The Fat Quarter Bag" and uses six fat quarters for the outside.  I happened to have a rather large piece of upholstery fabric and used the same fabric for both the outside and the lining.  Worked out well, nice sturdy fabric and I didn't have to buy anything.

After I finished the main bag I used the left overs to make some small one for accessory items.   Now for a bit of a fencing lesson.  For scoring one method is to use a sword with a plunger tip that uses a small electrical current.  When the tip is depressed, the circuit completes the a light goes 'on' on the score board.  This requires a wire from the sword to the score board.  It's called a 'body wire' as it runs from near the handle of the sword, under the jacket and out at the waist and connects with a coiled wire to the scoring equipment.  Not wanting to have this wire get tangled in the larger bag I made a small drawstring bag.  It actually has a divider in the middle as a fencer is required to have a spare wire at all time in the event of a problem with the first. 

For those familiar with fencing, you know that the clothing is all white.  Last think I want to do is throw my running shoes on top of my jacket, thus I made another bag for the shoes.  On the back of the bag I made a large pocket to accomodate a note book.

The small bag pattern is adapted from the Kit Bag pattern found on the Mennonite Central Committee website.

Hop on over to Lit and Laundry to see what's been "Finished for Friday".  Some great halloween crafts are on display.