backpack

There are 16 posts tagged backpack (this is page 1 of 3).

Posted to Ontario Barn Preservation – Spring Barn Fashion

This is the post I wrote about clothing choices for barn wear, for the Ontario Barn Preservation newsletter, March 2023.

Thinking About… Spring Barn Fashion

One thing you may not spend time really thinking about… barn fashion. But, here we are, approaching another Spring and you might need to consider fashion, or at least function.

First, you might avoid open toed shoes. No matter how cute they look before you walk around in the barn. Gardeners say “keep your knees dirty” but I’d change that to, “keep your toes clean, and not itchy”.

Do you wear that typical sort of lumber jacket look? How about that Buffalo check, the red and black plaid often used for rustic fashion? Denim is also a traditional must have, whether its jackets or jeans, or something else. One of my favourite fashion finds is a denim backpack. It goes anywhere, including the washing machine.

Then there are t-shirts. How many free t-shirts have you collected? Attending events is a good way to get more t-shirts. But, I find they don’t hand them out as often as before. Also, I’m not always keen to be a walking billboard for various products and causes. I still find sources for cheap t-shirts, plain shirts. Of course, a t-shirt never really dies, they make great rags. Really, if you took time to make a list there must be a hundred uses for an old t-shirt. Socks too.

You might think the topic of barn fashion is kind of silly, but almost everyone has a favourite old jacket, or jeans, or something they wear working around outside. It’s been weathered, time tested, patched, mended, washed more than a few times. What’s yours?

Barn Clothes: Life on The “fashion Don’t” List

What is a Vagabond?

vagabondHistorically, vagabonds were pretty tough, anti-establishment characters who lived as homeless drifters by choice. Modern vagabonds tend to be people who live off the grid or those who travel the world from out of a backpack.

Traditionally a vagabond is a person who wanders from one place to another, with no real home of their own. In modern culture this could be a homeless person or a street person. However, vagabonds aren’t the same as people who stay in a city (or any one place) and live there without having a typical home. Vagabonds are a subculture of their own making.

Some offbeat world travellers call themselves vagabonds. They travel the world, they travel as cheaply as they can (in order to keep travelling , they work here and there… but they do have a home to plan to return to once they finish travelling. The vagabond tourist is about seeing the world and stretching their resources for as long and as well as they can along the journey. Historically, vagabonds were more rebellious and travel was their way of avoiding putting down roots or really belonging or being found anywhere.

Vagabonds (tramps, hobos, or drifters) during the Great Depression lived a homeless lifestyle by choice. Often they were fugitives from the law or just avoided the law after having a few run ins with the police and/ or jail. My Grandfather was a drifter for awhile. He told me about some of his adventures. He said the tramps were dangerous and he learned to avoid them. Those men could be brutal and were living by taking what they could get.

After living that way awhile some of them adapted the lifestyle as their own subculture. They created rules and guidelines for who they were and created a culture out of their vagabond lifestyle.

There’s a romantic ideal of the vagabond (the little hobo with patches on their clothes and a pack slung on the end of a stick), but that’s not based on the facts so much as the idea of travelling and seeing the world, meeting new people and enjoying different cultures. The modern is about adventure.

wanderers

Could You be a Vagabond?

  • You really need a change, like a jump start for your life or your spirits.
  • You haven’t figured out your career path or all your jobs seem to be dead ends.
  • You don’t have a lot of obligations, personal (family and kids) or financial (mortgage on a house).
  • You feel burnt out or you’ve lost (or never really had) your sense of who you are.
  • You’ve never really travelled, never left your own country, or even your own home town.

 Other Words for Vagabond

  • vagrant
  • tramp
  • drifter
  • hobo
  • wanderer
  • nomad
  • landloper
  • train hoppers

 The Downside of the Vagabond Lifestyle

  • Living out of a backpack, suitcase, luggage of whatever sort.
  • Always looking for travel arrangements and destinations.
  • Finding temporary work on the road, year round.
  • Not having a place of your own where you can put down roots and keep your stuff.
  • Living under someone’s (couch sitting, hostels, etc.) roof with their rules and ways.
  • Meeting and getting to know people but always moving on and not having any real relationships with anyone.
  • No routine, having to adapt and make plans every day.
  • Packing and repacking everything into one bag and then hauling it all around.
  • Eating on the fly – sometimes not eating when the money is low.
  • Living on a tight budget and having to be thrifty.

Vagabond Lifestyle

Vagabond as a Traveller

Articles About Being a Vagabond

Make your own Crochet Purse

A crochet purse can be very practical and very romantic at the same time. Here (see below) are patterns and ideas if you want to try making your own crochet purse. Some are purses which you can buy too.

I like crochet. I make granny squares and did start a bigger project but I messed up along the way somewhere and put on a shelf. Crochet is something you can do without a lot of extras. Just yarn and a crochet hook are all you need to succeed with any crochet pattern. Of course, there are extras for those who want to have them.

If you crochet a purse you will need a purse handle in some cases. It will depend on the style of purse you want and, of course, the pattern you are using. I like the look of the more polished and professional purse with a handle. But, then I started looking at patterns online and fell in love with some of the crochet patterns for purses with crochet flowers and no plastic handles at all.

The all crochet purse made with just yarn is going to be nice and easy to empty out and throw in the washing machine. You can’t saw the same for all those plastic handles, some will show wear and tear and cause wear and tear on anything else in the washing machine with them.

Don’t think you have to stick to just crochet. I found one purse which was a crochet base but had added old jeans as repurposed denim for a pocket on the front of the purse and the strap. You could also use the denim to line the purse inside.

I would strongly suggest lining a crochet purse. Unless you are very, very sure you will never keep anything small in your purse (like coins) which will slip out through the holes in the crochet. Face it, that’s not likely. So if you buy or make a crochet purse yourself, make sure it has a liner inside.

Free Patterns:

Repurpose Vintage Denim: Make a Fancy Denim Purse

A denim purse has great looks, great style and does great when it comes to wear and tear. Wouldn’t you like a denim purse, backpack, book bag, or some other denim purse sort of thing for yourself?

Almost every purse or backpack I have bought myself has been denim. My Mother made me a denim purse when I was a high school kid too. I remember how often people commented about that purse, in good ways.

I do my own sewing but I’ve stuck with embroidery and sewing by hand. Most of the sewing I do is mending, hemming and Christmas crafts/ ornaments. I do have a sewing machine but I’ve hardly done more than unpack it and pack it up again each time I move to a new address. I always intend to use it, get comfortable with how it works. There are so many craft projects I could be taking on if I was using the machine and sewing patterns. Now sewing patterns are so much easier to get, for free even, online. There really is not good reason not to get that sewing machine out and make great things with it.

I want to make my own purse, backpack or bookbag from recycled (upcycled) denim and trimmings. I’m going to start by looking at patterns and ideas. I like a purse with lots of pockets and niches to stash things and keep from having everything tossed into one central big pouch. I also want good straps, since they seem to wear out sooner than anything else on the purses I use. So those are the things I will be looking for in patterns.

General Plan for Sewing a Denim Purse

Start by giving the old jeans you want to use a wash in the machine. Dry them well and if they are wrinkled give them a touch of the iron to smooth them out.

Look at patterns for purses or backpacks or laundry bags, etc. You can do this without a pattern but the pattern is a good thing when it comes to the logistics and having a plan of how to pull it all together. Especially if you want extras like pockets, lining, inside pockets and dividers.

Don’t begin cutting the jeans until you have a plan for the purse, backpack or bag you want to make. Draw a pattern for the main bag and extras like a handle. Fit them by pinning the pieces together and see how they hang – is a purse strap going to be too long or too short? Will you be able to fit your books into the book bag? Do you need a lining – which will mean cutting extra denim or recycling something else to have a different fabric for the lining.

Once you have your plan cut out the pieces, give extra space around the edge for the seam once they are sewn together. Cut the denim for the handle and any side pockets and such.

Sew on pockets and extras as you want them, not the purse strap however. Once you have the body of the purse all set and ready to be sewn together (including a lining if you want one) put the main pieces back to back (they should be inside out). Begin sewing around the edges. Leave the top open – but hem it if you have rough edges there.

Sew the purse strap on before you finish sewing the two parts of the body together. You should have left some room to tuck the ends of the strap into your seams. Or, sew extra seam and double sew over the straps for extra strength. Look at patterns for ideas on how to attach the strap to the purse if you aren’t certain. Of course, if you use plastic handles it will be different from using a length from the jeans.

You can still decorate the purse with extras like pins, brooches and whatever else you dream up.


Source: A denim purse from Poppy Patchwork on Etsy. The shop looks closed right now, not gone from the site so it may open with new items again.

I Got a Kobo Touch eReader for Christmas

My brother bought me a Kobo Touch eReader for Christmas. Also, a travel case so it can safely travel around with me getting bumped about in my purse or backpack as I bus around town.

Now, I’m on the learning curve to figure out how to use an eReader, especially how to load and share ebooks. I’m not even sure about all the correct terminology so I have a long way to go. I’m getting started by installing the software today.

Scoop.it: The eReader Emporium
Scoop.it: eBooks, eResources, eReaders
The eBook Reader Blog