Happy Wednesday! Today's whateva is my new favorite bag - ever. Ok, so maybe I'm partial (since I did make it). Naaaah, it is that awesome ;) My little Stinkeroo and I go to the library at least once a week and we most often leave with an armful of books. A library bag has been on my to-make list for awhile and then I remembered about this post on MADE. Oooh baby, now we have a project!
I didn't take pictures all along the fusing process, because I followed Dana's directions. The only difference is that I used thinner bags from our grocery store, so it took 10 layers on a medium-high heat setting to fuse a nice sheet of plastic. Now I'm not gonna lie here - it is a PAIN in the butt to find just the right combination of plastic layers and heat, but once I had it down I rolled them off pretty quick.
I needed 3 pieces of fused plastic for this little bag. I wasn't terribly concerned with the exact size (especially since I was only making one) so my measurements are a little on the wonky side:
- front and back measure 9 1/2 x 10 1/2
- sides measure 4 1/2 x 10 1/2
- bottom measures 9 1/2 x 4 1/2
- handles measure 11 x 1 3/4
Since I like a little bit of fancy, I also cut up a Dollar Store placemat that was just waiting for a project. I used strips of the blue backing for a little rolled top on the bag and the pocket and the plaid front for the letters, pocket and inside of the handles.
The letters printed from Word using Arial Bold in a 200 point font size. I printed them off, cut them out and used the paper as my pattern on the plaid fabric.
The measurement for the blue edge strips are two pieces at 9 1/2 x 2 and two pieces of 4 1/2 x 2. I simply folded the blue fabric over the edge and sewed a straight line across.
The pocket is 9 1/2 x 2 1/4. I added the blue rolled edge to clean up the edge. I like the frayed look on the top of the bag, but I didn't like it so much for the pocket (I'm weird, I know).
I didn't take pictures of each step, but here's a go at my process:
- fuse plastic
- measure & cut all pieces from plastic
- measure & cut top edge strips, handle accents and pocket
- print letters and use paper letters as a pattern
- pin letters to front and sew them on
- pin pocket edge to pocket and sew on pocket
- run stitch up the center of the pocket to create 2 pockets
- pin blue edge strips to front, back and side pieces and sew
- pin handle lining to handles (right side out and top stitch) and sew
- in the center of each handle, fold in half lengthwise (plastic facing out) and stitch at the very center to make the handles more comfortable
Assemble the bag (all pieces are sewn wrong sides together and top stitched with a zig zag)
- pin front piece to bottom piece and sew
- pin back piece to bottom piece and sew
- pin side to front piece and sew
- pin side piece to back piece and sew (this is where it does get a little tricky to hold everything together)
- pin side bottom to bottom piece and sew
- repeat steps 3 - 5 for the other side piece
- to add the handles, just pin on and top stitch in a square and then x the center for extra support (I used white thread for this to make it less noticeable)
The hardest thing about this bag is fusing the plastic - everything else is pretty basic sewing. Here she is all finished:
And for the record, the Munchkin will always be my baby :)
Happy Tuesday! Well, it's official - I'm all out of tips. My first reaction was to scour around a bit trying to dig up a tip to share, but um...that wasn't fun. Soooo I am waving the white flag of tipsiness and morphing Tuesday posts into more of a 'something I'm trying to make my life easier, more organized, less cluttered, etc.' kind of post. Lately I've been struggling in the dinner department. In the winter I'm generally pretty organized. I have a month+ of dinners (and even lunches) planned out and weekly shopping lists at the ready. Once spring hits its like my organized mind takes a vacation. I think eh, we'll grill something - but I stop planning what that something will be. Let me tell you, grilled chicken 4 days in a row is enough to drive you batty! As I was looking through my recipes, I realized that I had 2 that involve grilling - out of a bazilion. So something I'm trying this week...is collecting two weeks worth of grilling/summer recipes and mapping out dinners for the next two weeks (just like I do in the winter). I'm hoping this will take away my dinner anxiety and someday I'll be able to look at a piece of grilled chicken without twitching!
Ever since the hubs and I have been together, spring marks the beginning of 'Project Season'. Now that we have a little Snugbug, he wants in on the project fun. He already has quite a tool collection, but last weekend Mimaw and Poppy brought over a Little Tikes circular saw, jigsaw and safety goggles. Let me tell you, nothing spells awesome like power tools! To celebrate this year's Project Season, this week we're having some tool-themed fun :)
Letter of the Week: T
Crafty, Creative, Sensory Fun:
- T is for Tools letter craft
- The Right Tool matching game (match the tool to the tool's action)
- Stomp-style tool makin music
- Lots of pretend building
Books:
Songs:
- The Tool Song (to the Wheels on the Bus melody)
- This is the Way We Swing our Hammer
