Whedonverse Swap: Serenity Bag

In previous posts I shared the package I received and the package I sent as part of the Whedonverse Swap 2015. I'm so glad I got to participate in the swap. Occasionally I see swaps titled Big Damn Heroes and I wonder how they get started without me noticing. I can't join them all, though.

During this swap I came across another crafter make some amazing coasters and I commented that I would happily take her mistakes. I didn't expect anything to come of it. I was surprised when she said she would send me the mistakes if I really wanted them. I said sure and proposed we do a trade so she could get something, too.

Looking at her Instagram feed I found that she was also a knitter so a Firefly-themed, knitting-project bag seemed the perfect thing. I decided that the Open Wide Zippered Pouch from Noodle-head would be a good fit and I just needed the right thing to put on the outside of the bag. This is where I went on an adventure to find some machine embroidery to use. I found a couple designs from Etsy seller Lynellen Perry.

I purchased two designs: the Serenity logo and Serenity the ship. I attempted to create my own designs, but after a day of trying to create the outline of Serenity and getting a machine embroidery stitch-out that I didn't really like, I gave up. Learning digitizing software is like learning how to use Blender.

I spent entirely too much time trying to find a font that would read like the font used in the show. This task proved much more difficult than I anticipated. I ended up using this font which isn't terrible.

This is the largest size of the Open Wide Zippered Pouch. The perfect size to carry a couple balls of yarn and your current knitting project.

I love this project and I'm glad I took a bit of a risk and asked another crafter for a swap outside the bounds of a hosted swap.

"A [bag] like this will be with you 'til the day you die."

If you are new to craft swapping, Megan at The Bitchy Stitcher wrote a wonderful post about swaps and how they work.

Have you had any fun personal swaps? I'd love to hear about them.