Back in April, I sewed together some plastic bag holders to contain the avalanche of Market Basket bags threatening me. After I finished, my husband added his two cents and I had a few ideas of my own.
The original bag holders had an elastic bottom and open top. My husband wanted something with a closed top, like a drawstring.
My thought was the raw edge inside the tube. I don’t want any frayed ends.
Fortunately, it was pretty simple to address both those concerns and I was still able to do it using a fat quarter.
Before we were cutting a strip from the side and not using it, now you’ll use the full length. Cut a 2-inch strip off the short end of the fat quarter so you have a 2×22 inch piece and a 16×22 piece.
Sew the 2-inch strip into a tube, then flip rightside out, iron flat and sew along the edges to hold flat. Set aside.
On the bottom end of the large fabric, fold up and stitch a quarter inch seam. Then fold up again a half inch and sew along the upper edge of the fold.
From the top edge, measure 3.5 inches down and cut a 1/4-inch snip on either side of the fabric. Fold the part above the snip in 1/4 inch and sew; repeat on the other side. Fold the top in 1/4-inch and sew. Then bring the top edge down to the line where you snipped in and sew.
Cut a 1/4 inch elastic 7 inches long. Pull through the bottom hem and pin in place.
Pin together holder with wrong sides together. Make sure to sew through bottom elastic but not through the upper pocket. Trim any long threads on the side seam, then flip inside and sew again along the same edge to make a French seam up the long side.
Pull the strap you made in the beginning through the top tube. Sew ends together and then rotate through the tube so you can’t see the seam.
It sounds a little complicated when you write it out like this but it actually is pretty simple once you get in the swing of things. I can pop these babies out in like 20-25 minutes now.
With this latest batch of plastic bag holders, I’ve also been making potholders. It’s another project that can be made with fat quarters.
I had fat quarter sets from Cottoneer fabrics (left side of photo above) and from a clearance bundle at Michaels (right side of photo above) and I thought the coordinating sets could be nifty.
To make a set of two potholders, cut four 7.5 by 8.5 inch rectangles of your print plus two 1 by 4 inch strips. Then cut two 7.5 by 8.5 each of insulbrite interfacing (this has a tinfoil-looking layer that reflects heat) and of cotton batting (make sure it’s cotton so it doesn’t melt!).
First, make the hangers by sewing the 1×4 inch strips into tubes inside out and then flipping right side out.
Then, it’s time to make a fabric sandwich. I start with the insulbrite layer on the bottom. Then the cotton batting. Place one rectangle of fabric on that, face up. Pin one strap in a loop in the corner. Finally, place the last rectangle of fabric on top, face down. Pin around edges to hold. You’ve got a lot of layers to hit.
Sew around the perimeter, leaving a 3 inch (or so) gap.
Flip rightside out (making sure to flip from between the two fabric layers. Pin opening closed and sew around the perimeter all the way. Then quilt as you see fit.
That’s it!
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