Scrap Buster Scrap Bags

A blog that I love, Sew Mama Sew, is having a contest this month http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=966 and I decided to enter. For those of you who read my blog but aren't interested in sewing, please ignore this post and check back soon for more family postings. For everyone else, here goes... If you try this project, please let me know about any questions, problems, or mistakes you encounter.

I have a lot of scraps - a lot! Little pieces, big pieces, skinny and fat strips, etc. I don't like to throw those small bits of fabric (some smaller than 3"x3") but I wasn't using them up quickly enough. I really wanted to store them by color because it makes it easier for me to use them. My first storage method was plastic bins, then brown paper bags and while these were "organized" they weren't exactly attractive. So, I decided to put those many scraps to work and make something that looked pretty good sitting out on my craft table (or at least better than brown paper bags). These bags use lots of your scraps and it does not matter at all what size scraps you have - tiny to large will come in handy for this project. You can make these bags to hold fabric by color or even by pattern - if you like plaids or stripes, make a bag out of those scraps too. I also think these would make great bags to hold toys such as blocks, small cars, and play kitchen toys. The bags are reversible and if you can turn the top down to make a cuff and make them shorter. In honor of the SMS contest, I decided to call these my Scrap Buster Scrap Bags. Now you can make some too.

Bag measures approximately 10" heigh x 8" wide x 4" deep when finished.

Materials you will need:

sewing machine
iron
sizing, starch, or steam
scissors
pins
pencil
acrylic rulers (a 24" long ruler as well as a square ruler)
rotary cutter
cutting mat
thread
a collection of scraps in various sizes in a single color or pattern (such as plaids or stripes)
3/4 yd of medium weight iron-on fusible interfacing - I used Pellon brand Craft Fuse iron on
coffee, candy, or other treat for nourishment - sewing is hard work and you must keep up your strength!

1. Gather your scraps together and press all of the scraps you think you will use.

You will be making two large pieces of fabric from your scraps for each bag. These pieces will measure 26 1/2" x 13" when cut.

2. Begin by sewing like-sized pieces together and then adding larger pieces to these "log-cabin" style. Continue in this manner until you run out of larger pieces to sew onto your main piece.

Tip: Remember to press your seams as you go - whether you press them open or to one side is up to you - you want to be able to press the entire piece flat when you are finished sewing.

Tip: You don't have to trim your seams unless they get in the way of your sewing.

Tip: You can sew one large piece of fabric (if you have lots of long strips) or several smaller pieces and then sew these smaller pieces together (I found the latter to be easier for me because I had lots of small scraps).

3. After the pieces measure larger than 28"x14", press very well (sizing, starch, or steam will help create a bit of stiffness).

4. Cut each piece of fabric to measure 26 1/2" x 13".

5. Cut two pieces of interfacing to measure 25" x 12 1/4".

6. Fuse the interfacing to fabric: center fusible interfacing onto wrong side of fabric piece - making sure fabric is exposed approximately 3/4" on each short (13") edge and approximately 3/8" on each long (26 1/2") edge. Starting in the center of piece, fuse interfacing to fabric (following manufacturer's instructions for your interfacing). Repeat for second piece.

7. With wrong sides facing up, spray wrong side of short (13") edge of fabric with sizing/starch/water, fold down using edge of interfacing as guide, press. Repeat on both short edges of both pieces.

8. Sew side seams:

a. Fold piece in half with right sides together with raw edges to raw edges and folded edge to folded edge.
b. Pin in middle of folded edges and along raw edges.
c. Sew along raw edges with 1/4" seam allowance.
d. Repeat with second piece.

9. Make boxed corners:

a. Place first piece with opening facing up and corners running north/south.
b. Pull top corner of opening inward to make a triangle at the "north" corner.

c. Snip the fabric fold at this corner (the snip is made perpendicular to the sewn seam).
d. Finger-press the triangle and press seam open (with fingers or iron).

e. Using corner of square ruler, line up sewn seam with diagonal line on ruler, making sure there is an even amount of fabric on either side of line. You may have to shift the corner slightly to make sure the corner is a true triangle.

f. After making sure the triangle is even on both sides of seam, turn the square ruler so that the measuring lines are running horizontal, place the 2" line on the tip of the corner, line up vertical line with seam, and draw a sewing line at edge of ruler.

g. Hold corner of bag down while removing ruler and pin in place.

h. Sew along line, making sure to backstitch to lock seams.

i. Repeat for both corners on both pieces. This is what you will have (two bags wrongside out):

10. Turn one piece right side out (we'll call this piece A) and leave the other piece wrong side out (we'll call this piece B).

shown: (piece B on left, piece A on right)

11. Fit piece B inside piece A, folding boxed corners UP on piece B and DOWN and under on piece A. Match side seams of each piece at the top of the bag and pin in place. To help pieces fit, press down at seams in bottom of bag with your hand while pulling up on folded edge of piece A.

12. Pin edges together, beginning in the middle of one side and then every two inches place a pin. Fill in the gaps with more pins so that you have a pin every 1/2" or so. Repeat on the other side.
13. Sew along folded edge (top of bag) with 1/4" to 3/8" seam allowance.
14. Place the rest of your scraps in their new home and enjoy!

September Quilt Blocks & Owen

Well, I just finished my quilt blocks for September and all I need now is to buy more envelopes. Hopefully I can get them in the mail in the next few days. Until then, here is a preview for the Bees.

Crys

Jolene

Christin
Amber
Emily
And for family and friends, a couple of pictures of Owen, the coolest driver in the south...

zoom, zoom...

and when the car is in the shop...

12 months! addendum

Oops, I forgot to mention the 12 month stats! We went for Owen's 12-month checkup last Friday and he is 30 inches tall and 25 lbs 15 oz (we looked at the nurse at this point and said, "that's it?")! He is over the 100th percentile for height and at the 80th for weight (I actually thought for a second "oh no, he's not at the 90th or 100th?!" but then realized that 80th is still a pretty healthy kid).
Also, earlier today he learned to get from standing to sitting or onto his belly with a lot of control and seems pretty proud of himself.
AND.... drum roll please.... since Friday night (following a stressfull visit to doc with shots) he has been sleeping all night with no nursing although I did have to go in once each night to find/replace the pacifier (if it left the bed) but then last night he didn't wake up once!!!! This is a milestone that I was glad to get to and I hope it stays - I think I forgot about it in the earlier post simply because it doesn't seem normal yet and I'm hoping I don't jinx it talking about it.
Let's hear it for more than 3 hours in a row of sleep! What shall I do with all of that energy? Oh, I know, I'll chase Owen around the house.

12 months!

I just wanted to jot down a few of Owen's latest tricks.

• He is moving so VERY fast now - he uses army crawling, pulling up and cruising along the furniture, or crawling on hands and knees, whichever will get him where he needs to go! He is lightning fast with his little army crawl (or, as I like to refer to it, his "navy seal" look).
• He is trying to imitate lots of new words and he is evidently inventing a brand new language that is somewhere between Chinese and English (wish I knew what he was saying).
• He loves to explore and prefers to be doing so in our arms - much better viewing height and we provide a running narrative!
• He is finger feeding himself everything I put in front of him (and tries to feed himself stuff he just finds that isn't exactly edible).
• He loves the cats and dogs and he and Olive have a special relationship that consists of Owen grabbing hunks of fur from Olive and Olive patiently waiting until she's had enough and then she runs and hides.
• Owen has a great fascination with all things that move - trucks, motorcycles, cars, bicycles, etc. Everytime he hears a loud vehicle go by, he points to the window and says, "oo oo oo" or "wow." He also loves looking at pictures of vehicles and can't get enough of them.
• He still loves his books and right now he's really into looking at, of course, vehicles, and animals - his favorite seems to be the horse although his ultimate favorite is still the tiger "roar!"
• He will sometimes imitate new animal sounds like, "uf uf" (for rrrf) and "mow" (for meow) and this morning he was doing "rrrrrrr" while looking at a motorcycle in his book.
• He is such a funny little guy and he provides lots of entertainment for us. Although I think we provide just as much for him.

I'll have some pictures soon.

Owen is 1!

September 8, 2008

Remember this little guy?

Here he is today!

September 8, 2009

Happy birthday my boy!

Today you are one!

You are loved so very much!

Today was a great day - we took Owen to see the horses at my dad's and he seemed to really like watching them and getting to touch the mommy horse. The baby horse was a little skittish and wouldn't let Owen touch her but we got to pet her and feed her.

After visiting with the horses, we celebrated Owen's birthday and our anniversary with our first (yes, first) family dinner out! Owen loved watching everyone and ate lots of crackers, spaghetti, and yogurt. We hope next year's big day is just as fun.

Here are a couple of pictures from today.

Birthday party!

Owen's momma-made banner

Ready for the party!

Birthday Cakes and Cupcakes made by Aunt Steph

Our sweet boy ready to party

Owen being wheeled around by Livie in his wagon from Be-Be

O loves his Auntie-Am!
Hugs for Poppa! I think this may have been his favorite gift - from none other than Parrain Alex (aka "Nonkey") and Aunt Dee. He points to it and says "bi" (I think) and wants to sit on it and ring the bell every time he sees it!

Christopher had a great time helping Owen open his presents

Owen was really only interested in the first present we opened at gift time

Life's a party!We had a great time and as I've said (too) many times before - it's going way too fast but it's lots of fun. A year ago today I was having my own "Labor Day" and while that one ended on a really high note, I have to say that this Labor Day is much more comfortable! Today we took Owen and Ben to the zoo here in town - thanks Paula and Ronnie! They both had lots of fun and now Owen is napping and mommy is getting a little coffee and computer time!

Tomorrow our boy turns one and I'm just amazed that we have him here with us. Three years ago I never thought we'd have this day - life is something!

Thank you to everyone who helped bake, cook, setup, and celebrate Owen's birthday with us. It would not have been the same without ALL of you.

Birthday Countdown

Well, today is the first day of September so that means only 7 more days until Owen is 1!!! We gave him his first birthday gift - a car! It's one that he sits on and we push around and he really seems to like it. Everytime we push him around the house in it he says, "vvvvvv" and turns the little steering wheel, so cute! We are busy gathering food and things for his party and can't wait for the big day (actually, we can as Keith and I both think this is going much too fast). We will be having his party this Saturday (as most of you know) and I know we'll have pictures to share with everyone after. Until then, I have a video and a few pics to share now. Enjoy!

Dance, dance little tiger!