As I mentioned in the last
post about Kaari Meng’s book,
French General Home Sewn, I planned to make one of her featured
projects called, the Bread Warming Bag.  It was super simple, with minimal
seams, which meant minimal pressing.  The only part that was frustrating was
finding the flax seed, the key ingredient to the warmth part, for the bottom
pouch.  I had it in my head that I would need to hunt online for the best
price.  As it turned out, I found little pouches of the seeds at the local Fresh
Market and at the best price per ounce so far ($.32).  The bags came
pre-measured to 6 ounces each and I ended up using a bag and a half.  So, the
total flax seed cost equaled  $2.88.

Kaari uses hemp fabric, but after doing a quick search in the local market
and not finding hemp cloth, I decided to use linen.

With the sales on linen I was able to get this hopsack linen for about
$4.99/yard.  Since the pattern only calls for 3/4 of a yard total, with plenty
leftover for other projects, I would have to say this bag probably only cost
about $3.50 (if that!).  Now, keep in mind that was sale priced linen.  A quick
Google search did manage to turn up some hemp cloth online for around $15.95
(and up) per yard.  So, if you have the patience to wait, order it up and you
will get the full Kaari Meng, French
General Home Sewn effect with your piece.  She also uses jute for
the ties, but I created mine with the lighter lining fabric just to save on
cash.  They are definitely bulkier than I imagine jute would be, but they are
working fine so far.

I also added this little patch incorporating some of the leftover lighter
linen used for the lining.  I employed my newfound embroidery skills and added
an “H” for our last name, in deep green with a satin stitch.  It’s a bit bumpy,
but I love the hand sewn character it adds.  Then I attached the medallion with
a straightforward blanket stitch after ironing a nice edge using the circle
tip I posted a while back.   I fired this baby up in the microwave for 1
minute and it came out with a really nice moist heat that lasted well over an
hour.  I think it will work wonders for whole loaves, biscuits, rolls and
muffins.  In our carb-loving home, this bag will get lots of use!

Happy Stitching!

Erika

For further instructions on creating this cute little warming bag please see
Kaari Meng’s site to order her book,
French General Home Sewn.  Or, as in my case, you could borrow it from
the local library.  For the zucchini bread recipe featured in the photos above,
please see my other site, www.kitschdesigns.com or click here.