Plastic Bag Holder Tutorial

A friend of mine asked if I could make her a plastic bag holder. Of course, I accepted! I looked online for a tutorial or something. But none of them fit what I wanted it to look like. Most of them were just tubes with elastic at the top and bottom. Very basic. I usually like basic, but I thought it needed a little extra oomph! So, I did what I do. I sat down with my graph paper and sketched out a plan. This is another fat quarter project! Yay! (Fat quarters are 18″ x 22″ pieces of fabric, sold at fabric stores that sell quilting fabric.)

I use reusable bags, but always end up with plastic grocery bags anyway! You could also use this bag to store other things. (I stuffed on with fabric scraps!) And, as always, if you want one of these, but don’t have the skills, time, or desire to make it yourself- you can always contact me! (Check out Moose and Wormy on Etsy!)

To make a plastic bag holder, you’ll need one fat quarter, a 4″ strip of a contrasting fabric, 2 small (4″ or so) pieces of elastic, and one small piece of ribbon (6″ or so). (You can also make a fabric “loop” to hang the bag by. It is up to you!)

Measure your fat quarter. It should be about 18″ x 22″, but sometimes they are slightly larger. You’ll want to cut your 4″ strip of contrast fabric so you have two 4″ strips to go across each 18″ side. If your fat quarter is 19″, then cut your strips 19″ to fit.

With the right sides together, sew the contrast strip to the main fabric along the 18″ edge. Repeat for the other side.

I serge all my edges, since I am usually selling what I make. If you’ve got a serger, go ahead and finish those edges. If you don’t have a serger, you can omit the finishing if you want, or you can pink or zig-zag the edge. Since this is not a wearable object, or an object that will get much washing (if any) it isn’t necessary to finish the edges at all. So, don’t feel bad if you choose to skip that step!

Pin your ribbon loop (or fabric loop) a couple inches from the top of the main fabric along the 22″ side. (Which is not a 30″ side, since you just attached two 4″ strips to the ends!) If you put your loop too high, you’ll be fighting it while you sew the elastic casing or it will end up on the ruffle. So, try to put it low enough it will be out of the way, but still at the top of the bag. (You can turn the top ruffle down and see where it will hit if that helps you. I just eyeball it and hope for the best!)

Fold your fabric in half long ways (with your contrast fabric on the top and bottom) and sew with right sides together. Serge or finish the edge as you did with the other seam!

Serge the top and bottom edge of your contrast fabric (you can see above that the edge of the pink fabric is serged). If you want to skip that step, go right ahead!

Now, press the contrast edge in. (See above!) You want to leave about 1/2″ or so of your contrast fabric showing on the front.

(In the photo above, I am showing you the contrast fabric showing on the front.) Repeat for the opposite end. Press it down, leaving about 1/2″ (maybe a little more) showing on the front.

At this point, you’re bag is looking something like this. It reminds me of the cat tunnel project in In Stitches by Amy Butler. (Don’t know what project I’m referring to? It is a tube, much like this, lined with faux fur for your cat to play in.)

Now, we make our elastic casing! Yay! Sew along about 1/2″ from the edge of the contrast fabric. Sew all the way around, sewing back over your first stitches.

Sew all the way around again, this time sewing as close to the edge as you can. Also, you’ll need to backstitch the ends and leave a small opening (preferably near the back center seam) to guide your elastic through.

Repeat for the other side! Now, you are almost done!

Grab your two pieces of elastic!

Here is how I thread my elastic. I put a large safety pin along the back end. It keeps the elastic from slipping all the way through. (Believe me, that is a pain!) I attach a small safety pin to the front end (the end I’ll be pushing through the casing).  Make sure your safety pins are firmly attached. It really sucks when a pin slips off because you put it too close to the edge.

Thread your elastic through the casing.

Sew your elastic together by overlapping it and sewing it with an “elastic” stitch. (The awkward looking zig-zag stitch on your machine that is more “lighting bolty” than “zig-zaggy.” If you don’t have that stitch, a small zig-zag will work. (You may have to reset the width of the zig-zag so it fits on the elastic.)

Repeat for the other side!

Flip it right side out an you’re done! I know, you’re wondering why I didn’t finish closing off those elastic casings! Well, to be honest, it is a pain in the butt and it serves no real purpose. You can fight through it and close them up if you’d like, but I see no reason to. I backstitched the ends, so I made sure it was nice and secure. The elastic is so tight, You’ll find great difficulty stretching it out to sew that little bitty hole closed. And I see no point in closing it. You can if you’d like, I don’t.

See the lovely loop on the back! You can hang it in your pantry or, if you’re like me, you can hang it on your kitchen wall! (Use some snazzy fabrics and you’ll liven your kitchen up!)

This is my favorite aspect of the design! The top and bottom “mouth” of your bag holder have a nice little flirty splash of contrast! I love it!

Go! Make some as gifts, for yourself, or sell some! (Yep. You can feel free to sell anything you make from any of my free designs.) As always, I just ask that you not take credit for the design and that you’d share the free tutorial with others! (No hoarding freeness!) Have fun!

Courtesy of Moose and Wormy! (visit my shop at mooseandwormy.etsy.com)

Superhero Cape Tutorial

“Every boy needs to wear a cape at least once in his life.” – Uncle Brian

Kids love superhero capes! Well, my kids do, anyway. It can be frustrating to try to locate a cape that is generic enough to fit any pretend game they want to play. If your child wants to be a bat or spider, then you’re all set. But let’s say they want to be “Super Aidan” or “Super Turtle” or “A Bad Apple”, then where do you find a costume like that? If you’re like me, you make it!

If you are not the sewing type, you can pick up a superhero cape in my Etsy shop- Moose and Wormy. You can also contact me for making custom capes, though if you want a bat, spider, or man- you can go to Wal-Mart.

First, you’ll need your supplies! You can make this out of 2 fat quarters. (You know how I adore things you can make with a fat quarter!) Essentially, you’ll need two rectangles measuring 18″ x 22″. (2 fat quarters) If you want the cape a little longer for an older or taller child, you’ll want yardage. I recommend 22″ – 24″ long to fit from 2 to 5 years old. If your Super Little Guy is taller or older, you may want to adjust. [You’ll need 1/2 yard of 2 non-directional fabrics (this would make two capes). If one or both of your fabrics has a vertical pattern, you’ll need 2/3rds of a yard.

You will also need some sort of closure. You can use ribbon, buttons, snaps, velcro… It os up to you! I make mine with plastic snaps, since I have a snap press and like the ease of snaps. (Remember, if you use buttons, make sure the child is past that “putting everything in their mouth” stage. You don’t want the to choke.)

My quilting ruler is 2″ wide and 18″ long. On the back side of your main fabric, mark 2″ from the top a 3 ” line in toward the cape on each side. Wow, that sounded confusing. I line up my ruler on the top of my fabric and draw a line from the outer edge to the 3″ mark of the ruler. Repeat for the other side.

Now, mark the edge 6″ down from your 3″ lines. Connect the end (toward the center) of the 3″ line with this 6″ mark, creating a triangle! (I did not fully cut out an 18″ by 22″ rectangle in the photo above. As you can see, I just measure it as I went along and cut the whole thing out at once. You can do this or you can cut your rectangles, then remove the triangle parts if you’d like. Either way works.)

Cut out the triangles you just drew.

You should have one piece of fabric now that looks like this! You can either cut out the other piece using the same method, or you can cut it out like I do.

Place your cut piece right side down onto your contrast fabric, right side up. (Right sides together.) (As you can see, I didn’t pre-cut my rectangles since I was using yardage, rather than fat quarters. Either way works.) Pin around the edges, securing both pieces of fabric together. Now cut the contrast fabric out, using the front as your template. Now your pieces are already right sides together and pinned, ready to sew!

If you cut the pieces out separately, you’ll now want to pin both pieces right sides together before you sew them.

If you are going to use ribbon as a closure for the cape, you’ll need to sandwich and pin that in between the fabrics now, before you begin sewing.

Time to sew! Sew around the edges of the fabric, leaving a hole in the top for turning. Clip your corners and notch the angles of the triangle cut outs. You want them to lay as flat as possible.

Flip your cape right sides out, push out the corners, and press flat.

Topstitch around the edges.

Add your snaps, buttons, or velcro if you need to.

Done!

As you can see, the “collar” of  the cape is meant to flip over, showing the contrast fabric. However, it works either way! Now you have a reversible cape for your Super Little Guy (or Gal)!

You can do with this pattern as you wish. However, please don’t take credit for the design. It’d be nice of you to share the free pattern with others. Enjoy!