Poop Bag Holder Tutorial

As promised, I did up a tutorial of how I made these bags. Pretty simple, but seems to have taken a long time! I was trying not to forget anything, and hope I didnt. Here we go. If anyone has any suggestions to improve these bags, or if I forgot anything, let me know. I would like to improve how I write these things out.

Supplies needed:

-Pre-quilted fabric-6"x12" and 3-1/2"x7"  (these are estimates, big enough for one bag) Scraps are great for this bag, maybe after making some other bag...
-Matching Fabric-for tab-2-1/2" x 4-1/2"
-Plastic bags-I got mine from the dollar store. They are the small 4 gallon bags. (You will have to make measurement adjustments for your size bags, if they are different.)
-Plastic strapping-or something to stiffen the ends. (I save all the good parts of the plastic strapping that packages are wrapped in. This bunch came from insulation, when I helped a friend insulate their garage! She thought I was crazy- THEN...!)
-Caribeener
-Compass, or circle cutter-I used my circle cutter for the first time, but NOT the last!

For those who need to make theirs a different size, or want to know how to figure it out, hope this helps...if you are making the same size, you can skip this part!

Mine are 2-1/2" circles (finished). To find out how long your piece has to be, (sorry guys, this involves math...!) you take your circle (2.5) x 3.14 (Pi, remember that one??) and get 7.85, (.875 is 7/8", so I say-close enough!) I used 7-7/8". That, plus 1/2" turnover for each end-hem and sleeve for plastic (my strapping is 3/8", yours might be bigger, in which case add more)

plus, 1/2" overlap on circle. Makes 10"-again-close enough. I will make the overlap a bit bigger on my next batch, to make sure the bags don't fall out....they haven't been "field tested" yet!

• Cut 1 pc.-5-3/4" x10"
• Cut 2 circles-3" (adding in seam allowance of 1/4")
• Cut 1 piece 2 1/2" x 4-1/2" (tab)

                        

Fold tab piece in half, press. Open and fold both long edges in to center fold, press. Fold back in half, press, sew on both sides close to edge.

If you don't have a circle cutter, use a compass, and your old fashioned SCISSORS!

               

                          

Cut 2 strapping pieces at 5". Trim ends so it slides in easier.

I serged all around my rectangle piece to help prevent fraying. You can zigzag also, but make sure either is less then 1/4", or it will show! Maybe some of you can adjust your sergers, I can't, so will just zz next time! (or maybe I can, and just don't KNOW it!) 

Hem ends at 1/2", leaving room for plastic strapping. Insert plastic. My plastic had a "curve" to it after being wrapped up. I inserted the curves so that when together, they pushed against each other. One was up, one down. I thought this would help hold the bag closed.

Mark bag at 7-7/8" on both sides.

Right sides together, overlap on each end to your mark, and tack down.

Fold sewn tab in 1/2 and tack on right side of bag. (Sorry for fuzzy pics.) 

Sew in end, RST, back tacking, taking 3-4 stitches at a time realigning circle so that it is aways at the edge. Not too much fudge room for a 2-1/2" circle. Do other end, and turn right side out. Add caribeener and bags and you are done!

And for those of us with lots of friends with dogs...

Mass produce!

I have a feeling I will be making more!



Strings

I love strings. Strings, for those of you who don't know, are the cut offs (1"-2.5" in my stash) after straightening your fabric for your "real" cuts. I always cut mine a bit larger to make "strings". They are normally what would be thrown away, but hey, they are care free fabric, where you make "new" fabric, and who cares what it looks like. This is one string quilt I made:

I am working on another, which I will post when it is done. Strings to me, even tho I love them, get overwhelming. As you can see, I have a ton of them. I had to separate them into lights and darks.

I bet this bucket has 4-5 queen quilts in it! Believe it. I have a few more project ideas running through my head. There are a ton of options out there, it will probably keep me up at night...and I can't even start talking about "crumbs". I save those, and can't wait to dig into those too!

Did I say something about SPRING?

Never mind....it was, but now it isn't. Rumor has it, it will be back but it doesn't feel like it. April 18th, usually by now, the ice is off the lake and it has been nice. Last week, we got 6 inches of snow, and it hasn't really warmed up. It is evening, and it is 34 degrees. Those pics I showed in my last post of the water in the creek, it has slowed down some. It left this, with hopes of spring...

This is on our point, (150 feet from the house) looking to my left, facing the lake, where the creek comes out. The ducks are loving it, and I had high hopes that soon, the ice would be off, but look farther, the bay is still closed.

This is looking to my right, it is only open 3 feet from the shore. Right there, were there is flowing water. Notice, the rest is still ICE. Probably not very thick, but not OPEN WATER. And then right in FRONT of the house...

Down on the shore, it has RE-frozen, it was at least open a LITTLE a couple of days ago. (That dark thing is the cover for the garden water pump...)

We still have snow in the yard...and I bet the ducks aren't liking it too much either.

O.k., I am done ranting. I just want to sit on the deck in the sun and start on outdoor chores! (Did I actually SAY that out loud??)

Took a hike...

Every year when spring arrives, I like to hike behind the house in the creek which flows behind and passed the house to the lake. I love to play in the water, and break up the stick dams with dead leaves that get carried on to settle who knows where. It is good exercise, good to be out and good for the dogs to get out and get rid of some of their spring fever energy too. The water drains from the lake north of us, and the swamp in between. It is great for the oxygen in the lake, which is great for the fish, and is usually the best fishing on the lake when the creek is flowing. Sometimes it flows with heavy rain, as it did last week, but of course now is spring run off too. For those of us who love waterfalls, it is a good time of year. 

Most of the year, it is pretty dry, and green with massive amounts of ferns and some flowers. And of course BUGS, so I don't venture back there in the summer much. This is usually when the loons come back, when there is a bit of open water, so we should be hearing them any day now. Some people don't like spring because of the mud, but this is a wonderful time of year, when all the birds come back, (the noise increases!) the lakes open, and things come back to life. Of course, that means the start of summer, which then is CRAZY, and by the end I am ready for winter again! But for this day, I am really glad it is spring!