Bags under ironing board

Sunnie from Patchwork Pie left a comment on my post yesterday --

How big is that cute bag?
Could you leave it hanging under the ironing board and keep spray starch, etc. in it?

The Little Georgia Tote Bag stands at 9” tall.
Here’s the bag holding a can of Spray Sizing.  I could probably put a small spray bottle of water in the bag, too.  Don’t think it will be too heavy for the bag.  The other bag was made long ago for an item I no longer own.  I put the packaging from the various feet I have (& will) purchase for my Janome 6600.  The package always has some sort of necessary info I might want to refer to.

Even though it’s not a full-sized ironing board that I have in my sewing room, there is lots of room under there to hang bags from metal shower hooks.  And I’ve got more bags and can always make bags I might need.  So, I’ll just keep my eyes open for things that could be put into bags and hang them under there.

And the convenience of that space – I just swivel around in my chair and have access to all the hanging bags.  And since I never fold up the ironing board, this makes quite the nice storage area.  And I get to look at all the various bags a-hangin’.

Halloween Gift Bag

This is not meant to be a Trick or Treat bag, it is a gift bag – to put in special “spooky” things for a special “trick or treater”.  It could be used for a Trick or Treat bag if the treats aren’t real heavy.  

Start off with a plain paper bag and iron on some shapes.  I got the plain bag at Joann’s.  I’m sure the Party Supply stores would have plain bags, also.  The above bag was from last year for my grandson.

I found the above design by searching for “pumpkin carving stencils”. The design I downloaded was not the right size for the bag, so I took the image into EQ6 and drew (traced) it from the design.  The beauty of EQ6 is that you can make the design to your specs  and I could put the moon and bat where I wished.  I made the windows and door “crookedy”.  And could print out the templates any size I wished.

I cut the shapes from fabric fused to “Wonder Under” (or “Heat & Bond”).  Same as you would if making an appliqué for a quilt.  Then iron the cutout shapes to the bag – no sewing involved. 

I’m going to make another decorated paper bag this year cuz last year’s was neat.  I think I’m going to use the skull stencil I found at
www.sun-sentinel.com/halloween

Another source for images to use on the bag would be from a Desktop Publishing program on your computer. 

Gift bags with ironed-on stencils can be used to decorate plain bags for any occasion.  And makes them very personal.

Christmas Shopping Bag & EZ shopping bag

I wrote a tutorial for a Christmas Shopping bag last November.  Thought I’d bring it back now, in case anyone would like to make one for this Christmas.  They make nice gifts.  The can be used to “wrap a gift”.  Make one for yourself to put your Christmas shopping items in.  http://anotherpatch.blogspot.com/2008/11/christmas-shopping-bag-tute.html

And if you want to make some super-easy-to-construct Shopping Bags that are good give-aways, here’s a link to my bloggin’ buddy Sunnie’s http://patchworkpie.blogspot.com/2009/08/fabric-bags-e-z-way.html tutorial.

Project gone wrong!

Did you ever have it in your mind to create something and then as the sewing progressed, you realized it just wasn’t working out?

Well, I had another one of those “project gone wrong” things happen to me.  Yep, there’s been more than one!  I wanted to make a couple of “Bah Humbug Bags” and I didn’t want any raw edges in the bag.  Thought I’d like it to have a layer of batting.  Well.  That just didn’t work out.  Tried Traditional Batt on the larger bag and it was way too bulky.  Tried Cotton Batt on the smaller bag & it was still too much.  And the added bulk of the batting made sewing thru some of the seams with all those layers a bit much.

I don’t have a pattern for the Humbug Bag, but I had made the bag years ago after seeing it on a “Sewing with Nancy” program that featured the bag.  I made several of those, at the time.  They make nice gifts.  And also a nice cover-up for a gift.  Had made one for myself, too.

Well, my 2nd try (bags 3 & 4) turned out better.  There are no exposed raw edges anywhere in the bag.  Got back to basics and used denim for its durability.  No batting.  Nice fabrics for lining and decorating the handle.  The fabric & denim are quilted together with some deco stitches on my new sewing machine.

The bags look just a bit different, cuz I found that I had lots of bulk when stitching the handle in the same place with the zipper insert as on the smaller bag.  So, I moved the zipper insert away from the middle on the larger bag and that did the trick – the zipper insert & the handle are sewn thru separately, rather than all on top of each other.  I even made each end of the handle to be sewn side by side, rather than on top of each other, again, less bulk.

This was a good project to choose for sewing on my new Janome 6600p.  Lots of practice on many techniques, including using the zipper foot.  Even the original idea with the green bags that didn’t work out gave me some nice practice on quilting with the AccuFeed Foot.

The old dog IS learning new tricks!  LOL

The denim bags are a gift for a niece who will be starting college in the fall.  I know Holly will put them to good use, transporting any manner of goodies in them.

The original green bags I will finish up and know I will find some use for them around here.

Thumbdrive Jacket Tute

Today’s Christmas song of the day – “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives
http://heavens-gates.com/fifties/hollyjollychristmas.html

I do not like to put my thumbdrive in my purse unprotected. And it is so easy to misplace the thumbdrive cuz it is so small. It holds a lot of files and pics and I don’t want to lose it. I thought of making a covering for it – a jacket! Now, this I feel comfortable throwing in my purse. Use a Jacket to slip some folded money into when putting in your jean’s pocket – less likely for money to pop out of pocket.

For many Christmases, I have been making a keepsake item for my gkids. This year it’s the Thumbdrive / Money Holder jacket.

These sew up quickly, so if you need something like this for Christmas, you can do it up fast. I have created a PDF for the convenience of printing off the directions and taking them into the sewing room. You can even make a “Super Fast” version of the jacket that sews up, welllll --Super Fast – in about the time it takes to wrap a present!
http://anotherpat.com/ThumbdriveJacketByPatTribbey.pdf

Each Thumbdrive Jacket requires a piece of fabric 20” x 3-1/4”. (Super Fast version takes 10” x 3”)
Finished Jacket measures 2-5/8” x 4-1/2”.

If you make any Thumbdrive Jackets, please send me a pic and I will put it up in a Gallery.

Bags - sack, square bottom, book

I’ve been making gift bags for ages. I just hate to pay crazy amounts of money for pretty paper that gets all ripped & crumpled in 2 seconds flat. Plus. I can use up some stash. But, usually, I will buy real cheap fabric at Walmart or Joann’s which turns out to be much cheaper than pretty paper and I get a much bigger piece. Very nice when I have a large gift.

People are still using these bags from years ago! I usually just make a sack for the size of the object. Gather the whole thing in your hand at the top and tie a ribbon or fabric tube into a bow. The denim one above is suitable for a someone in college and is handy for a laundry bag.

Angie Padilla has some easy gift bags.
Square bottom bag – like the paper ones with handles
Book bag – when giving a book as a gift

If “Angie Padilla” sounds familiar to you, she wrote the book “ EQ6 Applique Drawing” from the folks at Electric Quilt. I have learned so much about drawing from her book. Never have been able to draw. Now, I draw with a mouse! Go figure …