Make-A-Bag

Towards a Less Plastic School Lunch

2008-09-18T18:54:00.002-04:00

Beth at Fake Plastic Fish ~~is always asking~~ asked what we are doing to reduce plastic and got me thinking.

It amazes me how much trash, especially plastic trash, can come from a typical homemade school lunch - juice box, individual servings of applesauce, chips, cookies, even pre-wrapped frozen PB&J sandwiches. And if you don't buy the prepacked, then there is usally a flurry of sandwich baggies at the end of lunch. A new school year is when I like to look at how I'm packing lunches and make a small change or two.

I've never been a fan of the individual servings of applesauce, pudding and other treats. So, I've been putting applesauce, goldfish crackers, grapes, nuts, and other little goodies in reusable bowls. The kids know to bring them home to be washed. The bowls are plastic, but I also have a set of very small stainless bowls with plastic lids that I use when I can. (Looking for more!)

Last year I stopped buying juice boxes for school and bought small (plastic) sport drink-type bottle to reuse.

This year the kids got new stainless thermos-type bottles. We are reusing their lunch boxes from last year. I'm experimenting with wrapping their sandwiches in cloth napkins instead of plastic sandwich baggies. I hope to make some cloth snack bags for cookies, etc., soon.

I buy concentrated juice in aluminum cans (Welch's) and mix it at home. We occasionally buy juice boxes for other purposes, but we've cut down on our juice-related waste quite a bit.

I'm sure there's a lot more I could be doing. But, like most people, small changes, one at a time, is the only way I can keep going without getting overwhelmed.

edited 9-19-08

Caution, Irene's Tote May Be Addictive

2008-07-13T22:04:00.005-04:00

I am loving this pattern. I love that you use heavier fabric, so no need for lining. I love how fast and easy it comes together. (Still not on the SMS payroll!)

Anyway, the next night after making my first Classic Tote, I made two more! They are both a bit smaller than the original.

This is may be a teacher gift, but I am hurting looking at my bad sewing in this! It's a bit smaller than Irene's original because it was made from... curtains. Yes, another great find from Target's clearance rack, only $3.24. If I pick all the seams out for maximum yardage, I am hoping to get 3 more bags from this one set of curtains! I like the pencil pocket on the front.

Here is a bag for my three-year-old son. I was rummaging through the stash, thinking he wasn't paying attention, but when I pulled this fabric out, he said, "I want that one." Made over from a little curtain I had made to hide the cat box in our old house (yes, it's been thoroughly washed). This bag is quite a bit smaller, and the pocket is divided to hold four pencils.

Show us your bags!

La di da di dum, La di da di dum, What's the Name of this Blog?

2008-07-11T22:41:00.012-04:00

That's right, Make A Bag. So it's about time I showed you - get ready...

A FINISHED BAG! THAT I MADE! woo!

Oh, if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about in the title, there's a little something for your viewing pleasure at the end of this post.

This pattern is Irene's Classic Tote, from the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. If you haven't visited SMS, you've just gotta go. It is an online fabric shop with the cutest of the cute, plus the blog has amazing tutorials on all kinds of sewing projects. Lots and lots and lots of tote bags there, many of which I plan to link to soon.

(No, I'm not on their payroll. I wish!)

Now, the pattern was originally designed by Irene's aunt, so Irene asks that you do not sell any totes made from this pattern. But she says you can make as many as you want for yourself or for gifts.

My fabric came from my current favorite real life fabric store - the lovely, lovely clearance shelves of Target. 100% cotton stripey tablecloth transformed to stripey tote. Let me tell you, a $4 tablecloth yields a LOT of fabric.

I'm not going to take you through all the steps. Irene has an amazingly easy-to-follow tutorial on the SMS site, and I would be insulting her genius if I tried to duplicate it here.

One of the techniques she shows is a French seam, which I had not heard of before. If you're not familiar with this sewing technique, watch the instructions and photos closely at 4b - that's WRONG sides, together, people. The instructions are correct; don't assume they're not. Also, don't ignore them completely, assuming you know what you're doing. Like some people I could mention. *cough*

Hello, Mr. Rippy!

Shortly after this little interlude with Mr. Rippy, my bobbin ran out exactly at the end of a seam. How often does that happen?

Then, just after midnight...

...voila!

(Yes, the horizontal/vertical back/front thing is on purpose.)

Irene's Classic Tote is a definite winner in my book. It took just over 2-1/2 hours, and would probably be even quicker for a more experience sewist (SMS's word, can't take credit). Or one who can follow directions! It's big and roomy and very strong if you use a heavier fabric as noted in the instructions.

As promised, a little movie magic...

Isn't there a version of this that Ernie sings to Bert and keeps him from falling asleep?

Anyway, I kept thinking of this song and this blog and realized I needed to get back to more bag patterns. There's a great big world of bags to make, so get sewing, knitting, crocheting, or whatever floats your boat. And, as always, if you have a macrame bag pattern, please, the macrame world is desperate for your pattern!

Keep Yer Cool Challenge

2008-06-30T00:09:00.003-04:00

If you're living under an enviro-blog rock, you may not be aware of Crunchy Chicken and her sometimes outrageous, alway challenging... uh, challenges. Here's the latest:

Some of her challenges are a little too skeevy for me, but I tell you, the woman gets ya thinking. I only started reading her blog about a month ago, and it's already one of my can't-miss faves. So I'm happy that she's running a challenge I'm not too grossed out to participate in.

Click on the logo for more info on the Keep Yer Cool Challenge. I signed up for No Air Con - I can't wrassle those window units into place by myself, so we're making do with fans this year, like it or not. Now, the office is obviously a different story since I don't control the thermostat there. And the van AC is definitely going to be on as the van doubles as a solar cooker otherwise, and I prefer my kids to arrive home uncooked.

Reel Mower Update

2008-06-21T15:16:00.002-04:00

more cat pictures

I felt like that kitty today after using my newly sharpened reel mower on the front yard. Woo hoo!

I tell ya, a good sharpening makes all the difference. The mower worked okay before, but now it's much better.

Some people say a reel mower only works well on flat, well-groomed traditional lawns. Mine is not that kind of lawn. Mine is a hodgepodge mix of sunny patches with semi-decent grass, deep shade with nothing but low-growing moss, and the rest, which is pretty much all broad-leafed weeds. In fact, I laugh when I see ads for broad-leafed weed killer - if I used that, I'd have almost no "lawn" at all!

Guess what the reel mower works best on? Small, broad-leafed plants like clover and wild violets. In fact, if I had my way, I'd happily overseed the lawn with those two plants. They are so pretty in the spring, blooming before the rest of the grass is long enough to cut, and they don't get very tall unless you really let them go.

That said, it's confession time. I only got the front yard done. This is the smaller portion. The back yard is probably close to .5 acre - and it's hilly. And the grass is almost knee high in spots because I let it go a leetle too long.

I think it's stopped raining, so I'm off to tackle the back yard. Send water. (Or beer.)

Factory Farming + Floods = Bad News

2008-06-17T14:00:00.002-04:00

The following was swiped liberally from Yahoo. Bold is mine. Full article here.

***

In Des Moines, where a levee failure Saturday sent water pouring into the Birdland neighborhood, some residents returned for the first time to see the damage.

Where floodwaters remained, they were a noxious brew of sewage, farm chemicals and fuel. Bob Lanz used a 22-foot aluminum flatboat to navigate through downtown Oakville, where the water reeked of pig feces and diesel fuel.

"You can hardly stand it," Lanz said as he surveyed what remained of his family's hog farm. "It's strong."

LeRoy Lippert, chairman of emergency management and homeland security in nearby Des Moines County, warned people to avoid the floodwaters: "If you drink this water and live, tell me about it. You have no idea. It is very, very wise to stay out of it. It's as dangerous as anything."

Mixed into the floodwaters are pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer from Iowa's vast stretches of farmland.

Ken Sharp, environmental health director for the Iowa Department of Public Health, acknowledged that the floodwaters could make people sick. But he said the sheer volume of water can dilute hazardous substances.

The flooding also raised concerns of contamination in rural wells, said G. Richard Olds, professor and chairman of the Medical College of Wisconsin.

"For rural folks, it's going to be hard to know if their water's safe or not," he said.

***

Eat local. Grow 'em if you've got 'em. (And all the more reason for me to get those tomatoes in the ground - soon!)

Freecycle

2008-06-07T13:27:00.003-04:00

Melanie from Bean Sprouts has posted today about joining your local Freecycle group. I couldn't agree more. Freecycle is a great way to get items you need or want for free, as well as a great way to get rid of things you don't need anymore and saving them from the landfill.

One thing I wanted to add to Melanie's excellent post, is that you don't HAVE to get a bunch of emails. In Yahoo Groups (which you must join to participate), you can opt for digest emails, which group together 25 or so posts in one email. Or you can opt out of emails altogether.

Here are some of the things I've recently gotten from other local Freecyclers - a big bag of blue jeans to wear and for crafts, an old manual typewriter for the kids to mess around with, some old blue canning jars and tons more.

Some things I've given away on Freecycle include clothing (both good and worn, although I disclose if clothing needs some extra care before use), packing paper, moving boxes, old towels for pet bedding, etc.

As a receiver, you never know what you can get, so it's worth asking. As Melanie points out, it's generally bad form to ask for luxury items, but this may vary depending on your location. We live in a somewhat affluent area, so asking for, say, an older digital camera is not necessarily seen as bad manners here.

And as a giver, you never know what people want. So again, worth asking!

Once you're in the group for a while, you get a feel for which items are popular and definitely worth your time listing.

Make sure you read your group's rules. Each group's moderators determine limits on things permitted. For example, our group does not allow animals to be traded on the group. They used to disallow plants, but reversed that decision.

Once you've signed up, head over to Bean-Sprouts and vote in Melanie's poll!

New (Used) Toy!

2008-05-12T19:09:00.005-04:00

(Photo to come)

I just bought a Craftsman reel mower off of our local "garage sale" Yahoo group. (The garage sale site sprang from our Freecycle group and is another great way to find useful used items.)

Our house sits on .75 acres with another .2 acre side lot, so you might think I'm crazy for trying to mow it with a non-motorized lawn mower. But I don't know. My powered lawn mower used to be a "nice" self-propelled gas mower, but the self-propel feature broke last year, was not fixed, and makes the power mower darn heavy. I figured if I have to push mow it anyway, why not use something lighter?

Plus avoid paying $3.85/gallon to MOW MY LAWN (an artifical environment to begin with). I need that money to drive kids to school.

Not to mention avoiding all the nasty carbon emissions.

And I could stand to lose ~~a few~~ ~~several~~ a couple pounds.

So it's a win-win-win and probably a few more wins I didn't think of.

I will say my old mower would rip through small twigs and pine cones like nobody's business, where the reel mower tends to get hung up on these. But the blocks are easily cleared and, after the first few tentative efforts, I no longer hear my Grandad's voice telling me, "Don't touch those blades; they'll take your finger right off!" (Thanks, Grandad! Miss you!)

Another Fun Green Video

2008-05-05T20:57:00.002-04:00

Saw this on Bean Sprouts. It's too funny not to share:

In other green news, there is an abyssmal dearth of fuel-efficient cars available in the US, especially if you're looking for a used (reused), older (cheap), 6+ seat (3 kids) vehicle like I am. Anyone want to hook me up with an EV-1?

MagKnits & The Way Back Machine

2008-04-25T22:57:00.002-04:00

Jennie hooked us up with a couple of links via The Wayback Machine, so Injeanius and The Saturday Market Bag links are now up to date. Thanks, Jennie!

We Need MagKnits Patterns!

2008-04-21T23:53:00.002-04:00

With the untimely demise of the MagKnits site, a couple of our knitted bag patterns are no longer available. However, the rights to these patterns reverted to the original designers, so we're looking for them so we can relink to these patterns. We need new links for:

Injeanius from November 2005
Saturday Market Bag (two sizes) - June 2006

Can you help?

You Say It's Your Blogiversary...

2008-04-21T23:41:00.004-04:00

Friday was my first blogiversary on my other blog, Tinky McFrog.

In the knitting blogosphere, this calls for a contest!

Random ~~Last-Minute~~ Belated Blogiversary/Earth Day Contest - Visit Tinky McFrog, and leave a comment on this linked post including...

1. One change you have made in the past year to tread a little lighter on the Earth
2. Your favorite color(s)

by April 30 to win an "Organic Nettie Kit" (enough organic cotton yarn to make a Nettie bag). Open to US and Canadian residents. (I just don't trust the mails any farther than that!) Winner will be chosen at random on May 1.

***

Some simple changes we've made in the past year:

1. Stopped buying juice boxes
2. Switched from buying pre-mixed juice (mostly water) in a big semi-recyclable plastic jug to buying juice concentrate in a very-recyclable aluminum can
3. Made a stronger effort to reuse plastic shopping bags for groceries
4. Started saving toilet paper tubes to use as seed starter pots (I'll let you know how it goes)
5. Started this blog! I hope it has helped you live a little greener!

Meeting Resistance From Store Clerks

2008-04-18T17:06:00.005-04:00

Because I am lazy (besides the two jobs and three children), I tend to reuse my existing plastic bags vs. trying out all these neato patterns listed here. (That's what you guys are for - give me feedback!) However, last week I was flabbergasted when the Meijer clerk refused to reuse my plastic bags! Here's how the conversation went:

H (me) - Oh, I brought my own bags to reuse.

Clerk - We don't reuse plastic bags.

H - What?! (This has never, ever been a problem for me before.)

C - We'll use those new reusable bags we're selling.

H - (fuming) Funny, this was never a problem before you started selling those bags.

C - Well, it's just that reusing plastic bags is unsanitary.

At this point, I pulled out my two hand-knit Nettie bags and a Target bag - yes, I whipped out a reusable Target bag at Meijer! So there!

H - They're not any less sanitary than reusing the other bags. I'm sorry, but whoever is telling you this is lying to you.

I was still mad as heck, but trying to be nice. Clerk continues to bag items, using my non-plastic reusable bags and fresh new plastic bags.

H - So, is this a store-level decision or a corporate decision? I need to know who to talk to about this new policy.

C - (looking sheepish) Well, uh, actually, I think it depends on the cashier. I mean, this is something they told me years ago. It's just one of those things that stuck with me.

H - (mentally) AH-HA!!!!

Oddly, the conversation took a friendlier turn as I told her that I would be making more Nettie bags and that I would add a buttonhole to the top edge to make them eaiser for cashiers to use at the turnstiles.

Now, I am not the best at the quick verbal comeback. Here are some points I wish I had made:

1. I have never, ever, had a Meijer cashier, or any other store cashier, question reusing plastic bags before.

2. Up until Meijer started selling their own branded reusable bags, they would refund shoppers 5 cents for each bag they brought in to reuse, thereby encouraging shoppers to reuse plastic bags.

3. Every single item I purchased was already packaged and well-protected from any "uncleaness" lurking inside a reused plastic bag. Not one thing was going to be pulled out and put directly in my mouth without unwrapping it first. Not even the apples. (I am a little ashamed of this, but it's a valid point regardless.)

4. Do most shoppers who use the canvas/whatever reusable bags wash them out after every use? I doubt it.

5. Shoppers who use the U-Scan lanes may reuse plastic bags if they choose.

I hope the cashier will think about our conversation and realize the above points. She has worked at that store for a while, so I'm sure she is familiar with the former bag refund policy. In the meantime, since it appears this is a one-cashier situation and not a store-level or corporate-level decision, I don't feel I need to write a letter or anything.

I will still shop at Meijer because they are Michigan-based (local to me), have great prices, buy at least some of their produce from local farmers, and have an amazingly diverse line of store-brand organic food that is fairly competitive price-wise with the regular stuff. And, hopefully, next time I meet a resistant cashier, I'll be better prepared to educate her about reusing plastic bags.

Greetings From Signer #363

2008-04-18T17:00:00.004-04:00

Beth at Fake Plastic Fish is helping lead a campaign to get Chlorox to take back Brita water filters. One of their tools is an online petition. Beth has an appointment with a Chlorox representative tomorrow morning, and would like to have 500 signatures by meeting time (8:30 a.m. Pacific Time).

To read about the initiative, click here.

To skip the background and go straight to signing the petition, click here.

Fade to Black

2008-03-29T13:07:00.003-04:00

Tonight is Earth Hour, where millions of people around the world (hopefully) will be switching off their lights and other electrical appliances from 8pm - 9pm, whatever their local time.

The kids should be in bed by then, so I'll be curling up with a soy candle and some knitting.

Also posted at Tinky McFrog.

"Does exactly what it says on the tin."

2008-02-04T22:48:00.000-05:00

That's Melanie Rimmer's comment about this site. Thanks so much for the mention, Melanie!

If you're coming over here from Melanie's blog, Bean Sprouts, thanks for stopping by. Please take a look around for a few minutes and leave a comment. I'm very open to positive suggestions to make this a better resource for hand-made alternatives to single-use plastic bags.

If you are a crafter, I'd love to know what you think of the format. Is it easy to find patterns in your chosen craft? Have you seen anything you might like to try? Have you tried any of the patterns here? What did you think of it? Can we see your finished project? Do you have a pattern you'd like showcased here? I'd love to help you out with that.

And the macrame thing? I kinda put that in as a joke and because it rhymed with crochet (I am a geek). Yet, there are crafters out there googling high and low for macrame bag patterns! So if you have a nifty macrame shopping tote pattern, BRING IT ON.

If you're not a crafter, did you see anything that might spur you on to picking up a skill or at least switching to reusable bags. Maybe you'd like to be a guest writer on an environmental topic?

New Bags from Interweave Knits

2008-01-23T17:51:00.000-05:00

Here are links to two intermediate-level knitting patterns from Knitting Daily:

Hemp Market Bag is knit from 100% hemp on size 10 straight and circular needles.

Vicki Square's Market Bag is knit from flax on size 6 and size 11 needles.

Needles sizes are US.

***

If you have made any of the patterns found via Make-A-Bag, I'd love to see a photo and get your thoughts on the pattern!

New Project - Gusseted Grocery Bag w/stuff sack

2007-11-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

The Sew, Mama, Sew blog is featuring 30 days of handmade gift ideas during November. Guess what showed up on Day 5? You guessed it; handmade tote bags.

One of the featured projects is a gusseted grocery bag tutorial from U-Handbag, complete with downloadable PDF for those inclined. This pattern includes instructions for a stuff sack with clip so you don't lose (or forget to take) the bag. This link shows how much stuff she fit in the bag - impressive!

That's another point that is rarely mentioned with reusable bags - less bags to carry. As long as the bag is not too heavy to lift, a lot more can be put in it than in a plastic bag because the plastic bags rip so easily.

I've added U-Handbag's Gusseted Grocery Bag to the sewing links sidebar.

Project Deleted - Muslin Tote Bag

2007-10-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

Not sure what happened to this project, but the link was dead, so I removed it from the sewing list.

Project Feature: I'mm meeeeellllltttting...

2007-10-24T12:01:00.001-04:00

No, this is not a post about icebergs. heh.

I received a comment linking to the following YouTube video, which I thought was pretty great. The pattern is for a messenger bag, but the video also shows how to fuse plastic grocery bags together to make plastic "fabric", which you could then use to sew a grocery bag.

I haven't tried it yet, but it seems you could also use this fusing technique to patch your old plastic grocery bags that you are reusing until they can be reused no more. Or nest two grocery bags together and fuse them for double strength. Seems like cashiers are always trying to double bags on me anyhow.

A lot of the video's comments asked why he bought a bag in order to get the buckles. Good point, but if you're like me, you have 87,000 bazillion old backpacks and bags with holes, etc., that really aren't usable but you hate to throw away. If not, go on Freecycle and ask for old backpacks with holes. Get the buckles off those and craft away.

Fun With Video

2007-10-17T11:28:00.000-04:00

Tesco is a supermarket chain in Great Britain that seems to get about as much love as Wal-Mart does on this side of the pond.

Here's a fun little video, mimicking Tesco's ads, that encourages people to shop locally.

I so admire the British way of getting a point across by using humor.

Produce Bags

2007-09-22T15:00:00.002-04:00

For a long time now, I have been bugged by the plastic produce bags at my local grocery store. It's bad enough that MOST of the produce already comes in a plastic bag. Why did I need to grab a separate bag for each type of produce that didn't come in its own bag? If I put all my veggies in one bag, would the cashier get annoyed or think I was trying to sneak something past her? So each time, I still put separate produce in separate bags. 1 head of garlic, 1 bag. 2 lemons, 1 bag. (Yes, I am trying to eat more locally, but sometimes ya gotta have a lemon!)

The the store started using EVEN BIGGER produce bags! Oh, I guess that gallon-size baggie wasn't big enough for the 1 head of garlic; we need a 6-quart size!

So what if I used no bags? Well, some things would get squashed in the cart, grapes would go all over, etc.

Another blogger (who I would link to if I could remember who it was, sorry), puts a hand-held shopping basket in her cart to hold her veggies. An excellent idea, if you remember to grab one (which I haven't), and if you are organized enough to not set the basket on top of other items that could get squashed (which I'm not).

Then, two weeks ago at the farmer's market, I realized that not only was no one selling reusable bags, every single booth was giving out plastic bags to shoppers. Grrr. I had Nettie, but avoiding plastic bags meant that all my veggies mixed up therein. Not a tragedy, certainly, but annoying.

Finally, my brain kicked into gear - why couldn't I make my own produce bags? Made from lightweight cotton or muslin, they would not add (much) weight when buying items sold by the pound. A drawstring close would keep things inside.

So, after WAY too much thought... here are my produce bags:

The first one - "gallon" size. I traced a standard zip-top food storage bag, adding a little extra at the top for the drawstring casing. Before I started, I realized that using a drawstring would make them hold less than intended. (Next task - learn to sew in a zipper!)

Using 30" of 45-inch-wide fabric, I was able to make a set of 2 "gallon" and 3 "quart" size.

Field tested today at the local farmers' maket. Big bags held four smallish bell peppers and 6 lg tomatoes, respectively, with room to spare. Small bags held a pint of smaller tomatoes (not quite cherries) and a quart of green beans. I had one small size bag left over.

Nettie held everything quite well! (Yes that is a to-be-reused plastic shopping bag at the bottom, just in case.)

You could make these with reused lightweight cotton woven fabric such as dress shirts and sheets. Four yards of drawstring trim was not even close to enough, so I improvised by reusing clean old shoelaces. Other drawstring alternatives could be: cotton yarn, ribbon, bias tape, scrap fabric. Just make sure they are washable unless you enjoy rethreading your drawstrings every time you wash the bags (I don't).

Overall, I'm really happy with how the bags worked. Besides not adding to my plastic problem, the cloth allowed the veggies to "breathe" vs. steaming in their own juices when left in the car for a couple hours afterward. (Bad, I know, but I owed the kids a trip to the park.) I will try to get an actual pattern up here soon, but I'd like to make the zipper improvement first. In the meantime, find a basic drawstring bag pattern and give it a try!

Up next - Field Test #2 - the grocery store. Stay tuned.

More Reasons to Avoid Plastic Bags

2007-09-15T22:15:00.000-04:00

In case you didn't have enough...

Here's a photo that Beth at Fake Plastic Fish snapped from Spirit Air's in-flight magazine:

You can click to read the text. The most shocking thing to me was the headline: "We use 2 million barrels of oil every day to make plastic." I don't know about you, but that sure sounds like a lot to me.

The article also claims that "72% of Americans don't know that plastic comes from oil." Maybe we can get the people from These Come From Trees to make some "These Come From Oil" stickers.

Reusablebags.com lists "Facts and figures regarding the true cost of plastic bags" in terms of both consumption and environmental impact. Be sure to check the "Other Facts" sidebar - tons more info there, including why paper bags and recycling aren't the answer.

Bean Sprouts recently wrote Ten Things You Didn't Know About Plastic. Did you know that "About 100,000 tonnes of plastic bags are thrown away in Britain annually. That's the same weight as 70,000 cars"? I didn't. And that's just Britain! How many cars' worth of plastic bags do we toss out in the US?

If you want to figure that out, you can start by visiting Worldwatch Institute. "Each year, Americans throw away some 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags. (Only 0.6 percent of plastic bags are recycled.)" Lots of plastic bag info at that link. In the interest of hope, I liked this point: "If every shopper took just one less bag each month, this could eliminate the waste of hundreds of millions of bags each year."

Back in March, No Impact Man wrote about the effect plastic bags have on wildlife in Plastic Bags Are the Devil.

And there's always this photo:

That's enough reason for me.

New pattern: Nettie Bag

2007-09-12T00:58:00.000-04:00

The post just prior to this one contains the pattern for the Nettie Bag, designed by me. This is the first knitting pattern I have released on the 'net, so please let me know of any glaring errors or anything that is not clear.

The first photo is the first Nettie I made. It is shorter than the pattern by two pattern rows. The strap is WAY too long - I forgot how cotton can stretch! This bag looks better than the second because it was blocked before sewing.

The second photo is the one I have been complaining about on my other blog. Somehow, 6 inches of garter stitch was just too much to bear (insert eyeroll here). Anyway, this one looks a bit wonky in the photo for a couple reasons: it was never blocked, and I wasn't trying a hard to get a good photo, just any photo. But this one has been field tested at my local farmer's market, and received a compliment from the local raw honey producer. Trust me, it looks better when it is full of ripe tomatoes. And it will hold a lot of them.

Project Profile: Nettie Bag

2007-09-12T00:44:00.002-04:00

Nettie Bag by Heather Toll

Difficulty:
Easy, Beginner +

Skills needed:
Casting on (any cast-on style is fine)
Garter stitch (all knit stitches)
Yarn over (yo)
Knit two together (k2tog)
Binding off (again, any style)

Finished size:
Approx 15" x 15" unstretched (38 cm x 38 cm)

Materials:
Color A - Lily Sugar 'n Cream, 2.5 oz. ball, solid color
Color B - Lily Sugar 'n Cream, 2 oz. ball, varigated color (ideally, your colors will coordinate!)
Size 8 US (5 mm) straight needles, at least 14" long
Size 15 US (10 mm) straight needles, at least 14" long
(You could also use circular needles, knitting back and forth.)
The usual suspects - scissors, measuring tape, yarn needle

Gauge:
18 stitches = 4 inches (10 cm) in garter stitch on size 8 (5 mm) needles.

Since this is not a garment, gauge is not as critical as it would be for, say, a sweater. As long as you are pretty close, you will still get a bag in approximately the size given above. For this project, the biggest risk you run by not getting gauge is running out of yarn before you finish, so if you tend to knit loosely, I recommend picking up a second ball of your color A yarn.

Pattern Notes:
This bag is knit in one long piece except for the strap, changing needles sizes and yarns as needed within the length.

The strap is pretty dull, but quite portable. You might want to knit it first or separately, taking it with you and knitting a couple rows when you have a minute to spare.

The Bag:

Side 1:
Using color A and the smaller needles, CO 60.

Continue in garter stitch (gs) until piece measures 2 inches long, or about 14 rows not counting the cast on.

K2tog across, 30 st

Change to color B and larger needles, knit 1 row.

Start net pattern stitch:

1. K1, *yo, k2tog* repeat to last st, k1
2. K all
3. K2 *yo, k2tog* rpt to end row
4. K all

Work pattern for 7 repeats

Bottom:
Change back to color A and smaller needles, k1, yo across row = 60 st

Continue in garter stitch for 4 inches, about 28 rows

K2tog across, 30 st

Side 2:
Change to color B and larger needles, knit 1 row (NOTE: Make sure that when you add back in color B, you do it on the same edge as before.)

Start net pattern stitch:

1. K1, *yo, k2tog* repeat to last st, k1
2. K all
3. K2 *yo, k2tog* rpt to end row
4. K all

Work pattern for 7 repeats

Change back to color A and smaller needles, k1, yo across row = 60 st

Continue in garter stitch for 2 inches, about 14 rows

Bind off, leaving a long tail for sewing up the sides.

Sew in ends.

Block if desired.

When dry, sew up sides of bag using mattress stitch.

The Strap:

At top side seam, pick up 9 stitches.

Knit in garter stitch until strap reaches desired length. Remember, cotton stretches!

Bind off strap and sew BO end to other seam edge, OR graft using Kitchener stitch.

Done! Hit the beach! (Or grocery store! Or farmer's market!)

Strap Variations:

1. Knit a longer strap so you can hang the bag diagonally across your body, messenger style.

2. Knit two short straps on each side so it will hang from the grocery store bagging center.

3. Knit two long narrow straps, picking up the stitches on either side of the side seam as for the regular strap, to make the bag easier to get into when it is on your shoulder.

4. Re-use old belts or flexible webbing as straps instead of knitting them.

Nettie with Strap Variation #2:

© 2007 by Heather Toll. Pattern may be freely distributed with copyright information. Bags made using this pattern must not be for resale.

Winds of Inspiration

2007-09-06T15:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a fun two-minute video about wind power. Click here if you can't view it below.

Last month, mom-in-law treated the kids and me to a mini-vacation. While there, we saw our first live wind turbines in Mackinaw City, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. People, they are beautiful. Tall and slim with the blades gracefully rotating. I would definitely have one in my backyard (especially since my backyard is not a major bird/butterfly migration route).

Anyway, Mackinaw City had one or two turbines on the outskirts of town. We also saw the turbines at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. If I have interpreted this article correctly, what we were seeing was one of the largest wind farms in Canada, which will eventually power 40,000 Canadian homes.

If you live in Michigan and purchase electricity from DTE, they are now offering a new program called Green Currents, which allows both residential and business customers to purchase energy from renewable resources such as wind, solar, biomass, hydropower, and geothermal. In fact, this new program will help create a 6,500 acre wind farm in Michigan.

Here's more information on the program, from DTE's press release:

"For as little as $2.50 extra a month, residential customers can purchase a block of renewable energy that's equal to 15-20 percent of a typical home's monthly electric usage. Customers also can choose to match 100 percent of their home's electricity consumption with renewable resources by paying an extra $10 to $15 per month for a typical household.

"Business customers can purchase a 1,000 kilowatt hour block of green energy for an extra $20 a month - or match all of their electricity usage with renewable energy for an additional cost of two cents per kilowatt hour."

DTE's web site also has tips on going green. Guess what number 3 is? "Take your own cloth bag to the grocery store and spare the waste of using store-provided paper or plastic ones."

If you came to this site looking for green energy information, thanks! Please take a look at some of our pattern links to the right to make your own reusable grocery bag. (And remember to reuse the ones you already have!)

Added Pattern: SewUseful San Fransisco Shopper

2007-08-22T00:24:00.000-04:00

The SewUseful San Fransisco Shopper is based on standard grocery-store plastic bags and reuses pillowcases as the source fabric. The pattern was inspired by San Francisco's ban on plastic bags.

New Pattern: Monterey Cotton Crocheted Bag

2007-08-18T12:28:00.000-04:00

Just added a new link to the "Patterns to Crochet" sidebar section. The link has color pictures and detailed instructions. This looks more like a beach bag or general tote vs a standard grocery bag, but you might find it useful anyway.

Inspiration

2007-08-15T15:42:00.001-04:00

Australian artist Helle Jorgensen crochets plastic bags into amazing sea creatures. Just in case you were looking for another project for your old plastic bags.

Our First Macrame Pattern!

2007-08-14T23:58:00.000-04:00

If you thought I was kidding with the macrame reference in the header, well, I was. A little. But a search for macrame bag patterns found this page, which gives some very good general guidelines for sizing, method, etc. So if you're into macrame, check it out!

So now we have a macrame section in the sidebar.

If you have an online or downloadable pattern for a reusable shopping bag in any craft method, please send it to makeabag at yahoo dot com (that's an email address, folks) and we'll add it to the site. Thanks!

Event - Somerville, MA 8/18/07

2007-08-14T23:47:00.000-04:00

Magpie and the Somerville Arts Council is hosting REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE...RECRAFT! this coming Saturday in Somerville, MA. Besides 25 vendors selling eco-friendly goods, local
environmental non-profits, free activities and live music, they will have a table to decorate your own reusable canvas tote. Click the link for details.

Muslin Tote Swap

2007-08-14T23:25:00.000-04:00

If you like to sew, here's a swap for you to follow along: A Muslin Tote Swap. Sign-ups are closed, but take a look and get some inspiration!

I'll link this in the sidebar's sewing section.

BRB

2007-08-07T23:24:00.000-04:00

I'll be out of town for a few days. Yes, I am bringing my knitted bag project with me. Hopefully, when I get back, my USB port will cooperate and I can show you some photos!

Project Feature: Easiest DIY Reusable Bag EVER!

2007-08-03T15:08:00.001-04:00

Beth at Fake Plastic Fish came up with this excellent project, an easy and quite viable alternative to new reusable bags. She writes:

"Plastic bags are easy to fold up and keep in your purse or backpack. They're just not as cute as hip nylon bags and they don't scream "Environmentalist" when you carry your groceries down the street. So you want people to know you reuse your bags? Turn them inside out and write "Reusable Bag" on the outside. You could even make a tally of the number of times the bag has been used just to prove it."

Beth was being a bit tongue-in-cheek to make a point. But I think it's a good point and worth sharing here. The last thing I want is a bunch of people rushing out to buy acrylic yarn and bringing it home in plastic bags in order to knit/crochet reusable bags.

So, if you already have a collection of plastic bags lurking under your cabinet, try this out.

Turn your bag inside out.*

If desired, add a design.

Voila!

After some experimentation, Beth and I decided that ball-point pens work best for adding designs to the bags. A certain popular brand of permanent marker works great, but is a bit fume-y. Bold-tip washable markers designed for kids are a bit light, but also work, if you let them dry thoroughly before using.

I totally love the tally marks.

The best part: Once your "Easiest DIY Reusable Bag EVER!" gets a hole in the bottom or the handles rip, you can cut it down into plastic "yarn" and make it into another bag like this one.

*Apologies to Target. Your bags are very reusable, thanks.

A Finer Line

2007-08-02T15:33:00.000-04:00

A big THANK YOU to Beth from Fake Plastic Fish for the plug and link! I had been fretting about how to get word out about this blog, and here she came to my rescue. (I didn't even have to ask!)

Beth just posted a great article about thinking before you purchase a new reusable bag. Here's a great quote from her post: "It's not so easy to see past the advertising to the reality that the best way to step lightly on the earth is to stick to the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, in that order. Nowhere in that list is Buy More Crap." Awesome.

Then she goes on to mention this little blog as a resource for options to buying a new bag. I can't thank her enough.

Minor Change
I have decided to make a minor change in how the blog is structured. I was going to have it be open, where anyone who was making a bag could post. But, even though we might all be concerned about polar bears, sea turtles and that big blue ball called Earth, everyone has their own opinion as to what is an acceptable balance between using resources and abusing them.

This theme seems to be popping up everywhere in green-focused blogs that I read. Sew Green linked to a recent post by potter Laura Zindel (hosted by One Black Bird) about whether ceramics are environmentally-friendly. I tend to think they are, if your alternative is plastic. (And note the quote from potter John Hull.) Laura's own opinion is that they are not, and describes her recent efforts to convince a green-minded gallery owner NOT to sell her pieces! (Laura's work is beautiful, by the way. If you're looking to replace some of your plastic with ceramics, go check it out.)

Personal conservation efforts run the gamut from angry chicken's efforts to replace her children's plastic ware with earth-friendlier (and healthier) alternatives, to Beth at Fake Plastic Fish weighing her plastic usage every week, to No Impact Man's exhaustive lifestyle overhaul.

Some of us refuse to use electricity. Some of us knit (sew, crochet) grocery bags. We all gotta start somewhere. The important thing is to do something. Even if you can't do it perfectly.

So back to the blog structure. In order to avoid public debates on whether someone is evil if they can't afford organically-grown cotton to knit their bags and use acrylic from Freecycle instead, I won't be opening the blog up to the general public. (Oh btw, please don't buy new acrylic yarn to knit/crochet bags. More on this later.)

But if you would like to contribute an article, pattern, photo, or other content, please contact me at makeabag at yahoo dot com. I'll review and see if it's right for the blog (mostly looking at tone and family-friendliness here). Of course, anyone submitting content will receive full credit. Even if you just want to share a photo of a bag you made, go ahead and send it.

And one more change: I'll be posting more essays, ideas, project features, and resources. I'm hoping to make this blog a clearinghouse for everything you need to Make A Bag.

In the meantime...

2007-08-01T01:46:00.001-04:00

While you're still working on your not-plastic grocery bags, ask your local store if they give credits for reused plastic bags or using cloth bags. The two major-chain grocery stores I shop at both give a .05 credit (US) for every bag you reuse. These are regular stores, not stores with a significant focus on organics or whole foods or anything special. So ask.

Even if your local store doesn't give credit for reused bags, reuse them anyway until you get your non-plastic stash up to speed.

BTW, IKEA has started charging shoppers for plastic bags.

One Small Step Toward a Healthier Planet

2007-07-30T00:03:00.000-04:00

Americans use 12 million gallons of oil to make plastic bags every year.

California alone generates 19 million plastic bags a year.

Every plastic shopping bag that has ever been manufactured is still with us today (unless it was eaten, and choked on, by an endangered sea turtle).

And they are taking over the cabinet under my sink.

This blog is for anyone who is interested in making shopping bags as a substitute for using plastic bags. You can knit, crochet, sew, weave, macrame, whatever. Just make a bag. Or two. Or a dozen. (Preferably made from natural fibers.)

And most importantly, USE them.

Looking for content:

I'm looking for links to free bag patterns, organic or other earth-friendly suppliers (yarn, fabric, etc.), environmental sites/blogs, etc. If you have something you want me to review, email me at makeabag AT yahoo DOT com