Reusable sandwich bags...

So, the kiddo had a friend over a couple of weeks ago and the friend brought lunch.  All of the goodies in the lunch were wrapped in reusable sandwich and snack bags.  I thought, "What a great idea! I bet I can make those!"  We go through way too many plastic sandwich bags around here and these seemed like a perfect solution.

I started out using other people's directions from various websites and blogs but realized that I wanted something a little different than what was out there.  Here is what I came up with...

To make this, you need decorative fabric (I used quilt cotton), waterproof lining fabric (I used ProCare fabric which you can get here), and some sew on Velcro.

Cut one piece of the decorative fabric that is 18" x 7".

Cut one piece of the lining fabric that is 14" x 7".

You will also need a 5" piece of Velcro.

Once you have all of the pieces cut, put the decorative fabric and the lining together with right sides facing and sew one of the 7" edges with a 1/4" seam allowance.  You will have a very long piece with decorative fabric on one end and lining on the other end when you open it up.

Now you do the same thing with the other 7" edge to make a tube.  Just line up the edges and don't worry about the fact that the pieces don't really line up.  The excess decorative fabric becomes the flap of the sandwich bag.

When you are done, it should look like this:

Now, squash everything out flat.  You can't iron it because of the waterproof fabric that will melt.  Get it nice and flat and sew along the long edges just like you did with the short edges.  On one side, leave an opening about 2" long so you can turn it right side out to finish it.



Clip the corners close to the seams and then turn the entire thing right side out.  You will end up with a bag with no side seams.







Now it is time to put on the Velcro.  Lay out the hook side of the Velcro on the flap part of the bag and pin it in place.  Sew around it to attach.

Do the same thing with the fuzzy side on the other end of the bag.  I fold the bag into shape to figure out where the Velcro should go.  Sew the Velcro down (make sure that you open the piece back up so you aren't sewing your bag shut though!)





Now you are ready to do the side seams.  Carefully make sure that the area that you left open so you could flip the bag right side out is lined up and that the seam allowances are tucked in. Then, fold the bag so that the top edge sits just below the beginning of the flap. I pin the part that has the opening along the seam allowance just to be sure.  Then starting at one of the bottom corners, sew very close to the edges (about 1/8") to form the sides of the bag.  About 1/2" from the top edge, I switched to a very tight zigzag stitch to form a bar tack at the corner of the bag.  Then continue around the edge of the flap and down the other side, creating a matching bar tack.






Now your bag is ready to use!

It is easy to clean, just rinse it out and let it air dry.  If it gets really dirty, you can through the whole thing in the washing machine!

A string bag

I got some groovy yarn in Rhode Island in August and made some of it up into a string bag. I really like how it looks. It should be pretty tough too! The yarn is Noro Ganpi Abaka (apparently this is tree bark or something...) and it was in the sale shed at Sakonnet Purls in Tiverton, RI for $4 a skein! I had to have it even though I had no idea what I was going to do with it! Now I know!

I ran out of the yarn before I got to the handle so I used some black Aunt Lydia's Crochet thread from my stash to finish it. It looks pretty groovy to me! I have enough yarn to make a couple more too! These will be way cool for the farmer's market... And maybe for christmas gifts too...

The bag is finished!

The recycled bag is complete, and the kiddo has claimed it as his own! It works well for him. I think I will make the next one bigger now that we have proof of concept!

Now I just need to buy a lot more stuff that comes in plastic bags... Wait, that's not the point! I guess I will have to wait for natural accumulation!

Home improvement!

Today we replaced the very large, slightly ugly, definitely broken ceiling fan in our kitchen. The new one looks really great. We even replaced the bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs! If you ever need them, Ikea sells CF chandelier bulbs! The room definitely looks bigger!

I made some meager progress on the plastic bag bag last week, but now that I have some more material, I will probably get it all finished!

Great sock yarn!

I am so pleased with how the sock yarn ended up that I can't wait to try it again. Unfortunately, I only ordered one skein of it! At least it is easy to get more. I can't wait to try some other colors too. I think burgundy would be awesome, and maybe brown too! The kiddo's green stuff may not have fared as well... I fear that we stirred a bit too much because the yarn looks slightly felted. Plus, I didn't tie the skeins in enough places so they got really tangled up. I will be able to tell more as soon as they dry out! The nice thing is that they were only $4 each, so if they got fried, it isn't a big deal!

After watching the neighbors out with their bottles of Roundup spritzing the weeds that grow in the cracks in the sidewalk, I decided to try a little experiment in organic suburban gardening... I poured boiling water on our weeds in the crack in the hope that they will curl up and die. It smelled pretty good when I did it... Kind of like the smell of cooking greens. If it works, I will chalk one up for the chemical free lifestyle. If not, I will have to get out the weeding tools! Everything certainly looked like it had been blanched when I was finished, but there is a big difference between blanched and dead...

The bags are no longer winning!

I worked on the plastic bag bag a bit more last night, but then I ran out of material. Oh well... This morning I went to Target and the grocery so I have more to work with now! It is really nice to not have a huge bag of bags hanging around anymore. Now that I know that this works, I think I will use up the bags as they accumulate and make some new reusable grocery bags in the process! I do find myself eyeing the bags at the store wondering if I should double bag the groceries so I can finish the first bag... Must Resist...

More playing with plastic...

Well, the crocheted plastic bags were working pretty well, but I am really a knitter at heart so I switched to pointy sticks. I started with the basic Booga Bag, although slightly downsized for experimentation sake. I am not sure what I will do for handles on this one... Here is the progress so far:






I have switched methods of cutting up the bags and this way works much better. I fold the bags into quarters longwise and then slice the bags into strips. I take the resulting rings and link them together to form a 2-ply "yarn" to work with. The strips are only about 3/4 to 1 inch wide and the result knits up quite well on big needles. Of course, none of this helps keep my husband from looking at me like he thinks I am crazy!

I have also been working on my cardigan. It is a totally made up design in Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. The colors in the photo are a bit off. They are really Lentil and Sea. The Lentil reminds me of my friend Karol who LOVES the icky greens! I have the bottom half of the bodice done and most of one sleeve so far. This is how it looks right now...

I like this one and am going to make raglan sleeves so the stripes can continue uninterupted for the top. I figured that drop or set in sleeves would look to perpedicular to me! Eventually it will have a button placket made of the blue yarn. I think it will be a perfect fall sweater!

I also realized that I haven't posted the DONE photo of the Alice Starmore sweater that I finished last month. It is very cozy and fits just beautifully. This one is made in Cleckheaton Country 8-ply, my favorite sweater yarn of all...

The kiddo took the picture, but he did a great job of getting the sweater in the frame!

On a totally non-knitting note, Sunday was our first trip to the local farmers market. It was a beautiful day and there were quite a few folks out. We bought some herb plants... Basil to replace the ones that were burnt by frost a couple of weeks ago, a lemon thyme, cilantro. The kiddo picked out some cucumber starts. He loves the cukes! I am going to wait until next week for tomatoes. This time I didn't see any good heirloom starts, mostly hybrids and not a single cherry tomato plant! The good news is that we found eggs, a guy who makes rightous tortellini, local honey, and a really delicious carrot loaf. Next week we will visit the meat guy who has organic meat, including buffalo and goat! Unfortunately there were no cheese vendors this time...

Recycling???

I am drowning in plastic grocery bags! I use cloth grocery bags but somehow I still end up with at least 2 or 3 plastic bags every time I shop. What is a girl to do? I diligently roll them up and take them to the recycling bin at the store, but obviously I need more reusable grocery bags.



This is where the strange thought process begins... I remember long ago my dear friend Jen telling me that she was knitting grocery bags out of grocery bags. That could be the answer!



Here is part one of the result... The test... Okay, I abandonned the needles in favor of a crochet hook, but it seems to work pretty well!


I think I will have to experiment a bit more. So far, I like the crispier grocery bags better than the softer Target bags, but I like the spots of color that the printing on the bag provide. I think the bag will be very strong when it is finished. More progress as progress is made...