Scrap Bag - Literally

 

"Scrap Bag" shopping tote

 

 There are many ways to save and use scraps. My personal favorite is to literally make a "scrap bag" shopping tote.  What I love about these bags are:

• they incorporate all of the material that I've used for various projects so when I look at them I remember the project.
• you can incorporate orphan or futzed up blocks.
  
• They are strong--so whatever your shopping need, this bag, so long as you can carry it will provide the lift that you need.
• Reduce reliance on plastic/paper shopping bags.

 This post is not a "how to" but some nifty tips:

 

 The webbing that I have here is and overkill:  it is a high quality webbing that I bought bunches of when I was making dog collars and leads for my dog transport.  Why would I do such a thing?  Well, dogs from shelters come with a hodgepodge of ill-fitting, poorly-made equipment.  After a few equipment failures (leads/collars breaking), I figured I could make useful things.   So I bought webbing and hardware.  I made martingale type collars that made it easy and safe to take care of my charges so there were no malfunctions.  A shelter dog who escapes from you has no name that you will every call it that s/he will recognize.  So best to ensure they can never get away.  I had one dog slip out of a collar and was heading to a hole in a fence that had a busy interstate on the other side.

So making a scrap bag is a fun and useful way to use your leftover scraps without having to put ANY thought into color size etc...just sit, sip and sew scraps together to make "material". You can find plenty of tutorials about how to construct your bag.  Here are a few thoughts as you consider methods:

1. Once you have the material for your bag, I found it easiest to work with a length that is twice as long as you want you bag to be high.  That way you are just folding the piece in half, and eliminating one seam.
2. Figure your handles to have the drop that you want (from the top of handle to the top of the bag).  This is a preferential thing.  Figure out what you like by using your favorite shopping bag as a guide.  the strongest bag will have handles that go all the way around the bottom of the bag.  Essentially you are making a continuous loop with one join.  The bottom center of the bag is going to sit at the middle of the loop.
   
• To measure how long this will be take (a) the height of bag from center bottom to top + (b) the handle length = 1 unit of handle length.  You will need 4 units, so multiply by 4.   To this measurement you will need to add 1/2 of the space between you handle spacing on your bag.  If the spacing between the handles is 5", then add 2.5".  This measurement will account for the top of the bag's in situ on your shoulder or in your hand.  
• loop material:  making this out of fabric is a pain in the butt. If you do, put fusible interfacing on the inside.  It will give it more heft. Webbing is very easy to use and is cheap.  You can get 150 ft /50yds of polypropylene webbing for $20. I bought my last webbing from Strapworks. They have an online Amazon store that is about 10% cheaper than their website plus delivered free.  Can't beat that!
  
• Before you join the sides of your bag together, affix the handle.  You will be glad you did.  Stop sewing about 3 inches from the top so that you can sew your inner lining in and top stitch. Sew on each side of the strap and sew a box with an "X" (you can see that on my bag picture).  This method ensures strongly secured junction point that will receive alot of stress.
• Sewing:
• I double sew all seams for added strength.
• To have no raw edges you can use two methods
• line your bag, keep an "turn area" on your lining side seam..so that you can turn your bag 
• drop in lining.  Fold the top of outside and the lining toward wrong sides together for about 3/8-1/2". Drop the lining in and then top stitch at near edge of top and then again with a 1/4" space from top seam.  Because  your handles are well out the way, you will have no problems here.
  
3. Stabilizing/lining the bag: You can buy all sorts of stabilizer depending on how stiff you want your bag to be:  
   
• If you want to practice your quilting, affix your completed material for your bag (like you would a quilt top) to batting.  Practice your free motion quilting.
• Easily loadable:  Use a really stiff stabilizer to keep your bag's form. 
• I use medium weight fusible interfacing on both the outside and the lining. 

💡 Those Amazon padded envelopes can be cut flat and then sewn as an insert for your bags to keep your meats insulated and save your bag.  If anything drippy come out, just rinse it out. You can also put them in the bottom of your bag.

Here's a video tutorial (and there are many on the internet).

I hope that you will consider making a scrap bag.....and if you end up with too many bags...well pass it on to another.