Show Posts
Just thought I'd pop in with photos of my sewing from today. I'm participating in a "green" swap on another message forum and decided to send my swapee re-usable grocery totes along with a few other things. Being as our "budget" is only $15, I had to think creatively. Luckily, our base has an Airman's Attic (like Goodwill but everything's free) and I went rummaging for suitable material. I lucked upon a king-sized bedsheet among some other things for later projects. Following the FABULOUS tutorial by queenofdiy I managed to create four bags from one king-sized bedsheet. I could possibly manage a fifth if I didn't mind the white piping to show.
I didn't bother with the pocket and instead just folded them into themselves.
My husband commented, "doesn't look like it'll hold much" when I was showing off my handiwork so I stuffed some groceries in. I managed to fit a box of cereal, pancake mix, rice, some potato chips, oatmeal cookie mix, a bottle of wine, a "bear" of honey, and a large jar of peanut butter in there all at once and still have room for a few more bags of gravy mix if I so chose. Here's an "action shot":
They're so cute all folded up together.
But here's my favorite part... the produce bags! I figured what's the point of having the re-usable grocery totes if those darned plastic produce bags found their way home along with them? I searched for some tutorials on the net that included tulle in their instructions but figured that would be too flimsy and could tear too easily. I instead pulled some fabric from my stash that was originally meant to be curtains. It has holes in it like tulle but is a stronger fabric and woven more closely together like linen. Combined with some DARLING ribbon, a drawstring and pull, and a square cut from a page protector, I made a pair of produce bags.
I'll admit they could be better made... I should've measured and pinned more. The little plastic "patch" is crooked and next time I'll do up the seams more neatly.
My favorite part is the ribbon. I was originally going to find coordinating ribbon like red for apples, green for veggies, yellow for bananas, etc etc. Instead I came across this lovely wire-edged ribbon (pretty flimsy wire though so still perfect for my usage here) with pictures of various fruits on them. They were too darling to pass up. I added it to the seam to add a bit more stability and color.
I'm planning on a few more for myself of course and I picked up loads of this fabric at the store yesterday for about $15 actually...
. 
Can't wait to see how they turn out.
Great job!
) but it's the first where I made absolutely sure that every stitch was perfect. Normally, I just wallow on and "adjust" the pattern as I go to gloss over my mistake. I guess because it was a gift, my perfectionist side made itself known. 
