|
:: December 31, 2006 Grocery Bag Dispenser Tutorial
I made and gifted a handful of these grocery bag dispenser-things to go with some more hot mitts I made from the Denyse Schmidt book. They are VERY easy and quick -- and so close in spirit to the toilet paper cozy-type grandma crafts that I hesitated drawing up a tutorial for them, but what the hey.
Prepare a rectangle of fabric, approximately 18" by 30". Mine is pieced. The measurements do NOT have to be exact by any means! You can also use dishtowels, embellish the right side as you wish with embroidery, ribbon, buttons, etc.
Fold in top edge, so that wrong sides are together, approximately 1/4" and iron. Again, measurements do not matter as long as it is even all the way across.
Fold over again to encase raw edge and iron down again. Do not sew top edge at this point. This will just make it easier to sew once it's in tube form.
Bust out some elastic. I do not measure the exact amount but you will need a length that measures at least the width of the body fabric to make things easy on you. This elastic is 1/2" wide, so I will need to fold the fabric in (wrong sides together) and press a little more than 3/4" to allow for a 1/4" seam plus room for the elastic. Again, you can eyeball this.
Sew in 1/4" from raw edge.
Attach a safety pin to end of elastic and feed through the tube you just made.
Sew the elastic in where it comes out the other end a little more than 1/4" from the edge, then trim the excess elastic off.
Bunch the fabric toward the edge you just sewed. Again, no measurements -- maybe down to about half of the unstretched width? Then sew in the other side of the elastic and trim.
Turn the fabric right sides together, pin (matching seams), then sew a 1/4" or so seam. Make sure top edge is unfolded.
Turn inside out (so the right side is now on the outside). Fold in along those creases you pressed in steps 2-3. Topstitch around the outside so that it catches the edge around the inside.
Make a handle for the top. For mine I cut a 2 1/2" by 17" piece of fabric, folded in half right sides together, turned inside out with a loop turner, then pressed again. You can also use ribbon for your handle to make things easier. Another option: Forget steps 2-3 & 10, leave top edge raw and bind with some bias binding, creating a loop on one side for hanging.
Pin one side of handle to inside top edge, turn to right side, and sew in. Repeat with other side. Finished! Now stuff the top with all those stray grocery bags and pull them out the bottom when you need one. This tutorial is also on Flickr. posted by in Finished Projects , Patterns , Sewing
Comments i was just wishing i had one of these, and now i can! thanks so much for sharing this. Posted by jen j-m on December 31, 2006 4:13 PM I've never seen one of these - I live in a cave, apparently! Clever gift idea, especially for those of us with dogs who go through newspaper bags constantly. Thanks. Posted by suZee on December 31, 2006 4:20 PM What a hip version of a utilitarian item! Where did you find an ironing board cover with iron outlines? Very cool. Posted by Jennifer on January 1, 2007 10:58 AM I was just complaining about the rather large shopping bag pile under out sink....this is way better than the Ikea version I was going to settle for. Thanks for the pattern! Posted by Michele on January 1, 2007 5:08 PM Great tutorial. This would totally keep all those bags from falling out when I open the my cabinets under the sink. Thanks! And thanks for all those great posts on fabric copyright. So facinating and informative. Happy New Year! Posted by Regina on January 1, 2007 9:47 PM thanks for the tutorial! i've been wanting to make on of these guys - and matching it to your mitt is a great idea. now...maybe a tea cozy too? (too much matchy matchy, i think - lol) Posted by cristina on January 2, 2007 1:09 AM I reverse engineered one we had around the house from my MIL to make one for my mom for Christmas this year. I did some piecing and added a touch of lace (http://blog.designedlykristi.com/?p=317). Your tut would have been helpful though! Posted by Kristi aka Fiber Fool on January 2, 2007 10:15 AM thanks for posting this! my ikea one broke awhile back and i've been wondering what to do with all those shopping bags :) Posted by gleek on January 2, 2007 11:49 AM I think this is a great item! (I think I'm in the same cave as SuZee, LOL!) Nice tutorial. I think it could have other uses--yarn or ribbon maybe. Posted by Kristin on January 9, 2007 6:04 PM This must be one of the best instructional series I've seen anytime recently on the web. A simple, useful item, presented CLEARLY, step by step, with incredibly wonderful language too. Posted by Karen Alexander on January 10, 2007 1:07 PM Great tutorial! I made one a while back out of a pantleg of a pair of pj pants I had lying around in my scraps pile. I put a drawstring on the top of mine, but I like your open top better. Posted by Sarah on January 11, 2007 5:11 PM Hey! I'm glad to see these resurfacing. You know what's funny? I made some of these as gifts and for myself years ago ('97, '98, '99?) from a Martha Stewart "Good Things" tutorial. The fabrics I used were scraps, which is another huge plus. Ahhh Good Things. Posted by jennifer r on January 14, 2007 2:25 PM |
