Scrapbusters No. 9: Project Bags

Handy project bags, also great for make-up, coins, loyalty cards, etc.

 Have you ever used pet screen?  You can often get brown or tan at hardware stores.  You can get lots of bright cheerful colors—blue, yellow, red, etc.—at many quilting stores.  Pet screen is often used in tote bags.  It’s plastic, but is easily sewn through.

Close-up of project bag.

Pet screen project bags are awesome!  These project bags are perfect toting around handwork like hand-piecing or embroidery.  You can see through the pet screen so you know what’s inside, and it looks a lot nicer and will hold up longer than some old plastic grocery bag.  Fill one up with your supplies, toss it in your bag and you are ready to craft on the go!

You can whip one of these up in 20-30 minutes using some pet screen and fabric scraps.

Supplies Needed:

• Pet screen
• Fabric Scraps
• Zipper (at least as long as your bag is wide)
• Large bead for zipper pull (optional)

Instructions:

Step 1:  Cut your pet screen to the size you want.  For example, if you want a finished size of 12 x 10 inches, you’ll need to double the length, and add 1 inch to both the length and wide of your bag for seam allowances (1/2 inch seam allowance).  Thus, you cut the pet screen to 13 (width plus 1 inch) x 21 (length x 2 plus 1 inch) inches. 

Supplies.  With the zipper, I use one that is longer than needed, then I cut it down to size after it is sewn in.

Step 2:  Cut a fabric scrap to the unfinished width of your pet screen (in this case, 13 inches) and about 6-8 inches.  Press under 1/4-1/2 inch on each of the long edges.

Step 3:  Topstitch the fabric strip across the width of the pet screen where you’d like it to be.  The fabric is strictly for embellishment and serves no functional purpose.  You can put it where it’s most pleasing to you, add additional strips, or skip this step entirely. 

Edge stitch along both long edges of fabric strip.

Step 4:  Sew in zipper.  Lay zipper face down on right side of pet screen aligning the edges.  Pin in place.  Open zipper as far as possible, like this:

Using your zipper foot, sew a seam as close to the zipper as you can.  It should look like this:

Zipper when it is completely sewn in.

Now fold the zipper up and finger press pet screen flat. 

Finger pressing folded over zipper.

Top stitch over the seam like this:

Topstitch the zipper.

Close zipper and repeat the process with the other side.

Step 5:  With right sides together, sew side seams. 

Step 6:  Turn your bag inside out and put it to use.

I had some leftover resin beads that I decided to add on as zipper pulls.  Certainly, this is optional, but it’s a nice touch.  

A zipper pull adds extra cuteness.

It took less than an hour to make all 3 of these.