PLASTIC BAG TUTORIAL

Here are the instructions on how to make the plastic coated bag featured here. I showed mum and she went off to work to make them, and at the shop they are all excited and churning the things out as they are really easy and quick to do.

What you need:

2 pieces of fabric 38cm x 46 cm (15x18.5")

2 pieces of clear plastic the same as above.

(I get this on a roll from spotlight I think it is called table protector and I use the lightest weight.)

2 handles approx 70cm each. -I prefer webbing or belting but I am too lazy to make my own!

A walking foot for your machine - the plastic is hard to sew around the top opening and this ensures a neat outcome.

HOW TO MAKE BAG:

1. Iron your fabric - this is your last chance. Once you get the plastic on, you cannot go near the ]on. I spray my fabric with starch just to make it a little more crease resistant and sturdier. You can use light weight cotton as the bags strength will come from the plastic.

2. Put the fabric face up and place the plastic over the top and pin the corners.

3. Place fabric right sides together so that the plastic is sandwiched inside. The plastic sticks together so i find it easier to pull it off and start again if i need to reposition.

4. Once the pieces are in place, pin them together and sew around three sides - the two long sides and the base of your bag. Leave the top open.

5. Zig zag around your bag to stop the fabric fraying. Zig zag around the top opening too - but make sure this stays open.

6. Put your hand inside the plastic pieces to open it a little. What you need to do is put your fingers into the corners of the bag and line up the side seam with the base seam. From the outside it should look like a point.

7. Measure along the side seam about 1-2" and sew a line across perpendicular to the side seam.

Do the same to each side and this forms the base of your bag.

8. Turn the bag in the right way and use your fingers to gently press the seams.

9. Fold the top of the bag over about an inch for the top hem. Press hard with your fingers to get a neat fold along the top. Pin. Before this is sewn you need to position your handles.

10. While I cut these at 70cm there is only 59 cm visible from the top of the bag. I mark this having even sections inside the bag - there should be about 5 cm pinned inside the bag.

11. Mark the middle of the front and the back of the bag. Then measure 5.5cm to each side of the middle. this gives you a gap of 11cm in the middle of the bag which is the gap between the inside edge of your straps. Pin the straps so that the inside edge of the strap retains a gap of 11cm.

12. Now sew the hem around the top. It works best with the walking foot on and the outside of the bag facing you. I usually do two rows of stitching - this gives the bag opening a bit of stability and also ensures that your handles are nice and secure. All there is to do is clip off all the threads and your bag is ready to use or give as a gift.

2 Extras -

1. If you are giving as a gift, these are better if you roll them from the base with a bit of paper around the end to stop the plastic sticking and prevents creasing.

2. If you buy patchwork fabric and you pattern allows you to work against the grain (across rather than down the fabric, you can get away with 40cm purchase of 112cm wide, and have enough left over to make a little purse which would be a great addition to a bag.

Use freely and enjoy - my mum has so why should you be restricted!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great New Book - for young Boys!

This is a great new book in our collection - Jackson's footy. It is a hardcover book with beautiful colour illustrations. What is really nice about it is the content - about a boys love for his football which is very Australian but also lovely to have a book really targeted to boys.

As parents, we are actually not that into footy, the Big Squirrel doesn't have a team and I follow one which I have lumped onto the boys whether they like it or not, and they will continue to suffer because of it! We do do Auskick and while Alexander could take it or leave it, Benji and Spencer breathe the stuff. We have been carting a football around with us last winter, and I am sure it wont be long until it is a constant in the backpack again. This book is very relevant to us!

Fundamentally it is aged at preschool children and is a nice picture book with a very basic story. Having said that, its use of common words made it a good read for Alexander who at six managed it quite well. Hopefully he can read it over and over and over to the twins!

Not sure if it is in the stores yet but you can buy it here - they also do Made in Melbourne.

BALLS

Our lives are being taken over by these little balls- Bakugan. They are large marble size and pop open on a metal card. There is a japanese cartoon which 'supports' them, but the kids love them. Alexander got a couple for his birthday, and it turns out they have been great to assist with his issues at school. There are limited play areas for his age group and he is not that into soccer so he was left wandering and up to mischief. Now there is a big Bakugan match (??) every lunchtime which has expanded his social circle and given this group of boys something positive to focus on.

From what I can understand there are energy powers associated to each ball from the card they land on - called g's and so can I fool myself that they are at least talking maths. In my mind they are kinda like dungeons and dragons - almost a made up game, but that may just be the 6 yr olds that are playing it.

Now the twins are into it too - we had meatballs for tea which no one was into, but as soon as I said they were Bakugan balls, they were all cleaned up. Sometimes you just have to go with it.

FIGJAM

Yes, that too, but we actually made jam from figs! I was excited because it is actually the first time I have ever made jam. I don't know how I have lead such a sheltered existance, but it was fun, and not at all hard. It was a really great exercise in the process of where our food comes from - this was from tree to table. Our neighbours tree to be precise - well actually no one is there at the moment and they are growing over our side of the fence -but we did have to reach a bit for some- lets not mention the ladder. Anyway, we have figs, from a tree, and Alexander wanted to make jam, so we did.
Got to love Mr Google, who just tells me everything, step by step with pictures and all I needed was pectin. After a quick walk up the shops we got Jamsetta which did the trick. We followed the recipe on the back and ta da a nice small batch of Jam of the Fig.

Hail

Is it still called hail when it is this big????Our humid weather has been broken with an amazing and damaging storm. We are in the suburbs of Melbourne and were hit with a freak hail storm. We had hail the size of golfballs but some suburbs were pelted with tennis ball size. It sounded like we were being invaded, with them hitting the roof and windows with real force. Luckily we are on a hill and it hit the otherside far worse than us, however there are some serious dents in the car. We were lucky that we were at home and not travelling anywhere and none of our property was really damaged. There has been flash flooding, roofs collapsing and all kinds of things. Hope you were all safe. (notice spencer is still 'spiderman')

Use your imagination

The boys saw bits of the first Spiderman movie today. Alexander watched it, and Spencer was 'inspired' by it. All of a sudden he decided he needed to BE spiderman. We have lots of dress ups but no spiderman so we had to be inventive.
Mum initially grabbed Alexander's PJ top and while this sufficed, he needed accessories. First it was gloves - I quickly put my hand on these snow mittens (while it is a mere 28 degrees and humid here) I thought he would reject them and move on, but no, they went on without a quibble and then it was a ... mask...From the same bag I pulled a large woolen hat which I pulled over his eyes saying lovingly "here, just pretend you can see" I really didn't imagine that he would at all be happy with this, and he stood and looked at me only to say, "I need the boots now"

So with large skull gumboots he managed to walk to go and fight crime - spiderman style!

Birthday Season

It has hit my birthday season. Not my birthday, (August 27- lest you forget!) but a bunch of my girlfriends. In fact in a little over a month there are 7 gift giving birthdays for my friends. Here is one idea I am working on. Obviously they can't all get the same present, but there are a few different groups so I can look innovative when I am not so much.

This is Ikea fabric and you can see I have used different fabrics on each side of the middle two bags. They are unlined, but have plastic coating on the outside. I am really happy with the size and used webbing/belting for the handles. Easy to do and handy for the present cupboard.

I am planning a tutorial and hopefully I can get this up over the weekend- having said that am off to a hens night tonight (renewing vows not a new union) so who knows how the weekend will turn out!!!!