New Year Exchange - way so overdue

I finally sent out my gift for the New year Exchange in the Shuttle and Needles group in early March. We were supposed to make a drawstring bag and add in some stash in it for our partners. I have to apologise to Jullie , my exchange partner, for sending it out so late. It was supposed to be in January and look what month it is now, :-}

This is the bag that I received from Jullie. It is a mix of crochet bottom with a fabric top. If you follow the link to Jullie's blog that I gave above, you'll find that she is very good at crochet, especially amigurumi shapes.

Besides the bag, there are a few other stash items which include two balls of thread, and a tool for making fabric-wrapped buttons, as seen in the picture below.













And the reason for the delay ...

I totally made a mess of the first bag, which didn't turn into a bag at all, and started over. Jullie was very understanding about it. Then, other matters came into play that took most of my time. I had to think very fast and made something real quick. There was a lot of improvising and finally this is my bag to Jullie.

Some may recognise the design from here. Well, that was the improvising part. Yes, it was what was I hope to turn into a table mat. Instead of a flat piece, I joined the last row of motifs to the beginning and turn it into a tube, which is sewn to the fabric of the bag.

I have added a few other items together with the bag but in my haste I did not take any photos of them.

I hope Jullie likes what I have sent her.

Now... there is the matter of the birthday exchange to Aileen, which is also way overdue. Oh! dear........