Thursday, September 4, 2008

My favoite thing to make EVER!! Zap Bags!

I must admit, I love making and using these bags... I keep one with our pack n play with grocery bags in it for dirty diapers, a few in the car and gave some tiny ones as gifts for doggy poop bags. They are so easy to make, all you need is:
a few pins
ribbon or material for the strap
scrap material (a rectangle, whatever size you are trying to make, large or small. the example is 14 x 8)
thin elastic
a safety pin
and of course thread and cutters




First, take your elastic and stretch it around your hand, do this.. do not skimp or you will be upset later when you can't fit your hand in to get the bags out. Cut the elastic (2 pieces) the size of one time around your hand and about a half inch extra (for sewing) lay the elastic down on the fabric and sew it down. This will set your seam for the bag. Give 1/4 inch so you can fold your material over to make the seam and a pocket for the elastic to sit (do this on both sides)

now, lay the elastic across and pin down the material, giving room for the elastic to fit inside (it will go here once sewn down.

Now, take the elastic out of where you pinned, (because there are people like me, that will sew it down on the material then try to call me at 2 am upset!)
Once you have your elastic out, sew a straight line down with room for the elastic to go back under keep your elastic behind the needle so you know where it is. (do this on both sides too)
Now, take the safety pin and pin the elastic. don't get too stingy or you will just fray it, grab a good chunk.
now feed your safety pin into the pocket you just made, and pull it out the other side.

get a good grip on it, and pull a little extra so you have some give in the fabric and it's not bunched at the end
take your pin off.

hold down the material and sew over to secure it.
take your pre-made (yes I forgot this part, I will add it in later this weekend) strap (or ribbon) and sew it down on the TOP side of the bag holder, right under the elastic strip

pin down the last flat side and sew over with a straight and then zig zag stitch
turn inside out and Wha-la!
with a ribbon, and "big kid bag"

sew the two sides of ribbon together so they are straight - follow the elastic instructions above on just the TOP edge of the fabric this will only need 1 cut of elastic.

sew down the ribbon just the same as you would a material strap. Pin down the remaining two sides and sew over. Remembering to pivot at the corner ( I double mine for strength)

extra zig-zag for strength and turn inside out..

Use a handy dandy fancy corner fixer tool... a.k.a. cheep power ranger kids green chopstick or pointy device (pen with ink removed works too) :D

TA DA!!!


Now for a few extras that I love in my sewing stuff...
1. my Creative Memories cup holder trash can combo.. Love this thing, keeps my drink from getting sweat on anything else, theres a tiny trash can for scraps and my big trash can holds the rest.
flat pins, safety pins, cheep ruler, wax paper, cutter thingies, pointie thingies, ya,, I love them all..

to better explain, the rulers and cutters pretty much explain themselves, but the pins, I like the flat ones because you can sew over them easier (but you should never sew over pins, even if I do) the ruler, is great because you alwasy need something to cut against and they are straight and hold up well, and they are like 30 cents at the hardware store. the cork is GREAT, get cork with adhesive and stick it down when you need a straight line to sew against for a smooth seam. It works well short or long, I got a sheet of it from the hobbie shop by us and cut it into thin strips. Wax paper is good for taping anything, it releases well and holds tight when needed. It's also good for odd things like fray check and I have actually used it when embroidering for a light rip backing.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, love the tutorial. Maybe I'll venture out this weekend and buy some elastic to make myself a bag holder. I'm still waiting on the one you made me too.....you can never have too many....especially when you have cats (cuz I use the bag for kitty litter)

Good tips! I've got nothing to add!

DILLIGAFF pants are in the dryer....maybe after his nap he can model them for me! ;)

Anonymous said...

Hey, if you want me to help you with a header or something for this blog, let me know...I've got some time this weekend! Plus, I'll always have time when I get back to work too...Tues might be busy.....