A Quick Grocery Bag

Last August I made a shopping bag from a T-shirt, following directions in the book Generation T. See that post.

The directions in the book had me measuring and cutting a shape from the front to make it very much like the plastic bags. That shape bit into the design on the front, however. So those T-shirts that have designs fairly close to the top would not be suitable for that project.

Martha Stewart has another version. You can go to marthastewart.com and hunt it down but I'll tell you the directions right here because it's so easy:

1. Turn the T-shirt inside out. sew the bottom closed, using the seam as a guide.

2. Take a medium-sized mixing bowl (about 9" diameter, more or less). Lay the T-shirt on a flat surface, flat. Place the bowl over the neck opening, making a half-circle shape wider than the neck. Use an air-erasable or water-erasable pen to draw the half-circle onto the T-shirt.

3. Cut out the larger neck opening.

4. Cut off the sleeves along the inside of the seamline.

That's it.

You can, of course, modify it. To make the bag handles narrower I tucked the ends under and sewed a zigzag through the layers. You can also zigzag the raw edges or serge them if you want to get fancy.

Oh, and that's Henry Miller on my t-shirt bag up there. Cool is the goal here.

A laptop sleeve

I made this laptop sleeve in sewing class Tuesday (yesterday!). The instructions came from the book, One-Yard Wonders, which I purchased from our instructor. She ordered a batch, knowing many of us would want one.

Another woman in the class was making a bag from the same book, and had made a grocery sack from it the previous week. We agreed that the author is biased in favor of bias tape and puts it everywhere. There are cases where it's a great addition but in some cases it simply is not the best idea. For example, two of the seams inside my bag (the other long side is a fold) are encased in bias tape. It makes it bulky and I could have achieved a better result with a different kind of finish seam.

The sleeve can be individualized not only by the choice of fabric(s) but also by the addition of appliques (which are actually called for in the pattern but which I did not add) and by the pattern one chooses to use in "quilting" the case. I did a variation of a zigzag pattern that I think adds to the overall appearance:

This type project also lends itself well to recycling fabric from other sources. I think used denim would be great here, for example, or even old curtains.

Addendum, Feb. 11: In the middle of the night I woke thinking about how to sew this with lining so that the two parts are sewn together at the top and then turned. For some reason I couldn't think how this was done, although I have made bags this way, so I turned to my patterns to find one that used this technique. It's simple:

* Sew three sides of the bag (attaching batting if needed), leaving the top open.

* Sew three sides of the lining, leaving top open and leaving an opening in one of the seams for turning.

* Place lining and bag together, right sides together, and sew top. turn.

This is how I will do the next one. If I want to finish the seams on the bag and lining I can, of course, but they will not be visible.

Tuesday Marathon: what I did

Today I brought stuff for a couple of projects. I wasn't sure how far I would get with one so hedged my bets.

First, I showed my two pieces of knit fabric to Linda, asking her if they were suitable for the pattern I had for a knit top. They both are. So eventually I'll make that top out of one or both of them.

Second, I decided to go ahead with a reusable bag. I brought along a pair of jeans I had gotten at the Goodwill Outlet plus several other pieces of fabric to consider for the lining. I quickly realized I had not brought enough denim. I have more, just didn't bring it. But I wanted to get on with it so I decided to use a fabric I planned for the lining for part of the outer bag as well.

I got pretty far. It took the morning to get it all cut out, in part because I ended up piecing a few parts so the pattern would fit, and in part because I simply took my time. I like taking my time there and just getting done what I can without a rush. As I got into the bag many other class members stopped by to see it. This is something that is done here - everyone wants to know what the others are doing. It's fascinating and sometimes we actually learn something. I talked to another member about a quilt she is making, and learned about making beautiful pillowcases from discarded old table cloths. I really love that one and am interested in making some of those myself.

The afternoon class is the baby class and some of us are getting more interested. We mainly joined to give us more time to work on whatever projects we had, but some of those baby things are so damned cute! So next week one of the others will bring a bunch of felt because she has a bunch and a lot of us will make little felt booties for newborns. How fun is that??? I do not know who will get the booties but I am sure we'll figure something out.

Lunch time is migrating to potluck time. Every week different people have been offering different things and this time we even more-or-less scheduled a whole meal for next week. Linda is bringing minestrone and the rest of us are bringing sides. I am thinking of sending Linda an email asking if by any chance the soup will be vegan. If not, I will bring an alternative for that part. I am thinking of making some bread thing to bring. This is a great way to try out recipes!

Piecing fabric

One of the projects I am considering is the making of reusable shopping bags from pieces of different fabric. I did not know what the rules of "piecing" are and I am not in class right now so I did some looking on the web. I finally found these instructions, which are clear and complete. The others I found left a lot out, probably assumed I already knew part of it.

My sewing machine manual also has a section on piecing, mainly letting me know which presser foot to use and how to use it for both left and right seams. It also has a special stitch for these seams - I am not sure what the difference is, perhaps the stitch width. Of course one does not have to have this option. Any sewing machine with a straight stitch will do.

Armed with this knowledge, I will bring in the old clothes and leftover fabric I'd like to use in the bag tomorrow. I should be able to get one bag done by the end of the marathon.

A laptop sleeve

I browsed though the T-shirt book again (see this post about Generation T) a few days ago and decided to make a laptop sleeve. From two T-shirts. I hunted through my T-shirts and chose two I thought would be good for it and proceeded to cut.

One thing about this book: just about everything in it is sewn by hand. It isn't necessary to sew by hand (and in fact the book even offers additional tricky ways to connect pieces that involve no sewing at all) and initially I intended to sew this sleeve by machine. But there is a difference in how it looks when the stitches are visible and so ultimately I decided to go ahead and sew it by hand myself. I rather like how it looks, even though I can already see how I could have done better:

The front:

The back:

:

In case you're wondering, what it says on the front is "Pismo Beach: delightfully tacky since 1946". Too true, too true! And also my birth year. Made for me.

You can see that the edges are ragged, something I could have avoided if I had cut more carefully, used a rotary cutter, used a cardboard pattern, for example. I could also have sewn it so that the seams were inside but this look has a certain charm.

Making it fit

Of late, I have been doing quickie projects out of T-shirts and other cast-offs. I made three more cat rice-catnip pillows from used pillow cases, to go to a shelter, and another reusable shopping bag from a T-shirt. I had been eyeing one of my cat beds. A visiting doggie had eaten the soft pillow that lined the bed so I decided to make another one from a T-shirt.

My thinking on the size: T-shirts stretch so if I make it approximately the size of the space it should stretch and flatten out and fill the space reasonably well. I wasn't counting on how the stuffing material would affect this outcome, however.

I recently picked up a partial bag of "polyfil" - aka "premium polyester fiberfill" at a thrift store outlet. Cost me 25 cents. So I figured this would do the job and I might throw in some T-shirt scraps as well.

In the past - deep, dark past - I had used kapok for stuffing stuff. This polyfil is a whole new thing. It's bouncy, it's washable, it keeps a shape. And it doesn't flatten down.

Thus this fit. Or lack of fit. That baby isn't flattening out to fit the shape.


However, the proof is in the pudding. The cat likes it. That's all I really wanted. But in the future I will make allowances for the amount of "loft" or whatever it's called, so my pillows fit the space better.

Fun with T-shirts

Following directions in my Generation T book, I made this reusable bag from a T-shirt. I hand-sewed it just because I wanted to, and it looks cool.



Here it is, filled. With...dare I say it?? ...bargain fabrics. I fear I am becoming hopelessly addicted. And yet I think it's good. It's a good kind of addiction.

For the doggie and the cup of coffee

I just finished two little projects, neither of which came out particularly well. I had second thoughts along the way and decided I needed to finish them even if they would never go anywhere after that.

The first was a doggie "vest" made from a T-shirt. I intended it for my daughter's dog Floyd. I had measurements for him and originally was going to make him a little jacket from a book of dog clothes patterns. I ran into some irritating things about that pattern so I figured I'd start with something easier. I turned to another book:


I got these two books recently from Better World Books, relying on ratings and price. Of the two, Generation T: Beyond Fashion is the clear winner. Although I doubt I have use for most of the projects in it, the sheer creativity and tips on putting pieces together are worth a lot. You could make most of them without sewing at all, in fact. Most of the fashions are clearly for young women, and hip young women at that. I am not young nor am I hip and I have never been hip. Still, I really like this book and this is where I found the directions for making a doggie vest.

What I produced was this:



And because I didn't measure things very well, I chose not to offer it to Floyd. Besides, it just isn't that good-looking. I did try it on my cat Stretch:


Here's the thing. It isn't a great piece of work but I learned some things along the way. The experience was worth it.

The other thing I made came from a website called the object project. It's a corduroy coffee cup sleeve with a picture on it. I didn't trace the shape of the sleeve as accurately as I could so it isn't perfect. Still, it looks pretty good and I think I actually will give it to somebody. It satisfies my recycling need, too.


Tomorrow I start a beginning sewing class at Adult Ed school. It's six weeks long. I have a lot of hope for this class.

A little bag

I have hunted around the web for cool easy projects to try on my sewing machine. The pillowcase cat pillow was one. The placemat was a variation on something I happened to see on some crafts page. And this bag is a third project.

I have several pairs of jeans that were due for the thrift shop. Some of them will still get there. But I figured I could use one or two for various projects, thereby saving a bit of money, considering how much I have spent on the machine, equipment, fabric, and thread. This little bag appeared to be just the ticket.

The bag is made from the leg of a pair of jeans. You cut the length you want, plus a couple of inches to allow for seams. Sew a seam at the top to be used as a casing for the cord, then cut out a round of denim from somewhere on the pair of jeans and sew that to the bottom. Thread the cord through the casing and that's it.

Only thing is, I forgot about making a hole for the cord. After I had sewn the casing I then used a seam ripper (generously supplied as part of the accessories that came with my machine) to tear out the stitches on one of the original seams, within the casing on the outside of the bag. I tried to thread the cord through that. Thing is, I didn't have decent equipment for this maneuver and couldn't get more than a couple of inches. I finally tore out a bit of the casing seam (that I had just sewn), tucked the cord in that, then sewed it back up partway. Then I tore out more and continued pulling the cord through this way, sewing it back as I went, until I got around the perimeter. Not a good way but it worked.

Now I know what I need: a bodkin. I had no idea what this thing was, frankly, although I have seen them from time to time. Now I do know. It's on my list for when I have any money.

One thing I have discovered from the web instructables is that many of them assume quite a bit of sewing knowledge. The project may be easy but the details are left to the reader, and if you are a novice that can be a problem.