Bagalongers got talent!

Its hard to believe that the Bagalong with Crafternoon Treats Facebook group only got going at the beginning of June. As I write this, its now got 1,155 members from all over the world. All mad, mad, mad about making bags.

In June we made the retro granny stash bag and a smaller project bag and some of the wonderful bags made by the group are in a Facebook photo album. This month, we’ve been making the fat-bottomed bag in tribute to Wink, the very talented crochet blogger who, due to severe depression, took her own life at the end of June. You can see the TaDah! post for my fat bottomed bag here. I love it so much. Its a useful bag but its delicate, made with lovely vintage coloured yarn and girly all at the same time and is much more of a handbag than a holdall to store yarn or crochet projects. Although it would easily fit in some hooks and a ball of yarn or two…

Showcasing the achievements of the Bagalongers

We decided as a group to make this bag as a tribute to Wink and I think it has been helpful for many people to do something positive. Our hearts go out to her family and friends, the people who knew her, but there is still a great feeling of sadness when you realise that a lovely blog that provided so much inspiration has come to an end. I think her family have said that the blog will stay up on the internet but, of course, there will be no more posts with Wink’s glorious and fun projects. The great thing about bags is that once you understand the basic pattern and how to assemble the bag, you can put in as many variations as you like to create a bag that’s exactly your style. These are just a few of the gorgeous creations that the group has produced already – and we aren’t half way through July yet… Each one is different, unique in fact and very special. The creativity in this group and The Crafternooners is amazing and being part of the two groups is so exciting! I know the other people in the groups, particularly the Bagalong group are getting a lot out of it too.

Making a donation in memory of Wink

There have been several requests in the group that anyone making the fat bottomed bag should make a small donation to a mental health charity. As we Bagalongers are spread all over the world, everyone agreed it would be best to make personal donations to charities either in our local area, or a nationwide charity in our respective countries. This list is a starting point – if you google “mental health charity donations’ and the name of your country or region, you will find loads more worthy causes who will benefit from a donation and use it well…

UK

• Mind
• Sane
• Rethink
• The Mental Health Foundation
• CLASP

USA

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
• Treatment Advocacy Center
• Trevor Project
• Mental Health America
• National Alliance on Mental Illness

Australia and New Zealand

• Society for Mental Health Research
• Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
• SANE Australia
• MIND Australia
• Beyond Blue

Every donation made to each charity will make a difference.