Men's Boxy Toiletry Bag

On our recent trip to Atlanta, it turned out that not only did I lose my wallet, but Lawson lost his toiletry case.  We thought it had been left at home but it wasn't here when we got back so he must have left it on the plane when he was getting stuff out of his carryon.  He also allowed as to how he was feeling a bit left out that I had been doing all this sewing but hadn't made anything for him.  So, the clear solution was for me to make him a new toiletry case to replace the lost one.  I made it to be a similar size as what I remember the old one being, which is a bit on the smaller size... but he's a guy, he doesn't have a lot of toiletries anyways.

I had seen some tutorials online for boxy bags like this before so I had a basic idea of how I wanted to put it together and then I figured it out from there.  I put a handle on one end to make it easy to carry.  The outside is a cool-looking (and man-appropriate) grey denim that I found in the remnant bin at our local fabric store recently, and it is lined with some newly-acquired navy on white Metro Living circles.  I love this fabric and will definitely be getting more.  It made me a bit nervous to be making a toiletry bag out of all (non-waterproof) cottons, but he insisted it would be fine.  I guess everything potentially leaky goes in the TSA-mandated ziploc bag most of the time now anyways, and at least it is machine washable if it gets gross.

All in all, definitely a fun project and just in time since he has to leave on a work trip on Sunday!


Have you made any fun crafts for the men in your life lately?  What are your favorite crafts for guys?

Spring Garden Cleanup

Yesterday it was really beautiful out and so I went out in the garden and did a bit of a spring cleanup.  In front of our house we have a (very small) garden in the ground which is all decorative - mostly perennials and bulbs and then I stick in a few annuals every year.  I didn't take any photos of that but did clean it out pretty well.   Our back patio where we do all our veggie gardening is bricked over so everything is in containers.  Most of them are self-watering containers, including these ones that I made out of big Ikea bins which work pretty well.  I had mostly cleaned out the containers in the fall but I went back and removed the leaves and debris which had accumulated, loosened up the soil, and pulled out any large roots that were still in there.  I was tempted to go right ahead and plant a bunch of seeds but since we are now having another cold snap I decided it would be better to wait a week or so.  There are still a few things growing in the garden from last fall, though, including the parsley you can see above.

There's also a few spinach plants...

Some scraggly arugula...

And some swiss chard.  I'm guessing all of these will grow a bit more as the weather warms up and then I will see if there's anything worth harvesting.  There's actually also a few lettuce plants that overwintered that seem pretty tough - not sure if they will be at all edible - and some scallions which I think should be OK.

Finally, I have a big pot with several kinds of herbs, but the thyme and sage had died off over the winter so I picked up some new plants and stuck them in with the surviving chives, oregano, marjoram and rosemary.  Having fresh herbs on hand all the time is one of my favorite parts of having a garden (especially at times like this when there isn't a whole lot else going on on in the garden) so I am glad to have the herb pot fully stocked again.

How about you?  Is it warm enough where you live to start cleaning out your garden and thinking about planting seeds?  What are you planning to grow this year?

Knitting update, or how did I end up with 4 WIPs?

Luckily I am now down to three WIPs (works in progress) but for a moment I had four, which is significantly more than my usual number.  I blame these socks.

I really like to complete one knitting project before moving on to the next, but I have a bad track record of knitting half a sweater and then putting it aside for six months before coming back and finishing it.  Which is what has happened with the sweater mentioned in this post (at which point I was also not knitting it).  Although I was thinking about it the other day and realized I started it in May last year a few weeks before our wedding, so I really should get back to knitting it - I would like to finish it before our one year anniversary if I can.  Anyways, although I like to have only one project in progress at once the sweater situation has meant that I have had two WIPs at a time for a while now, and sometimes three.

So, when we went to Atlanta recently I realized as we were rushing out the door that I had only packed my one currently in progress knitting project, the green yarn-over cable socks, and I was pretty sure I would finish them while we were there.  Not wanting to get caught on a relaxing vacation without a knitting project I grabbed a ball of sock yarn figuring I already had the right size needles etc for the project.  I have a bit of a sock-knitting addiction, so my natural propensity is to knit pair after pair of socks anyways... So after I finished the green socks, I cast on for my second attempt at the Dragonfly Socks.  I really liked this pattern and was very sad when I left the first pair on the metro, so was happy to try the pattern again.

However, when I got home, I forced myself to put aside the socks and work on another project that I had been meaning to start, making a lace cotton/linen washcloth for my seven year old god-daughter who had let me know she would like one for "the next gift-giving occasion", which will be her birthday later this month.  I had made them for holiday gifts a few years ago and apparently she is always stealing her mom's and wanted her own.  How could I say no to that?  So now I was up to three WIPs... more than I ideally like to have, but not too bad.

But them some good friends of ours had their baby and we found out she was a girl (they had decided not to find out the sex in advance).  We were super excited for them and I wanted to put a gift in the mail right away but decided that I just had to make a knitted hat to go along with some pants, shoes and a bib that I had sewn before.  So... there I was, with four WIPs.  It wasn't really that bad since two of them were pretty quick projects but I did feel a bit like there were knitting projects scattered everywhere.  Although that says more about the level of organization at our house than anything else.

In any case, I luckily finished off the hat and am now back down to a more comfortable number of 3 (knitting) WIPs.  Although I think I will stay at three for a while because after I finish the washcloth I have a few other small projects I am going to try to convince myself to knit before I go back to the dragonfly socks.

How about you - do you like to finish up one project before starting the next, or do you like to have multiple WIPs going, either in knitting or sewing or other crafts?  What are you working on now?

Easy Tote Bag Sewing Tutorial

I mentioned in my previous post about making the baby blankets and tote bags for the Craft Hope project I just finished that I was planning to write up a tutorial for the tote bags.  I know there are a lot of tote bag tutorials out there, but I think this is worth adding to the mix because it is easy and produces a nice, sturdy but lightweight tote bag.  The construction is fairly similar to my roll-up shopping bag, but simpler.  The bag is unlined and uses french seams to create a nice, neat inside with no exposed seams.  But don't worry, it isn't hard!

There are a few different construction options for this bag, which I explain in more detail in the step-by-step instructions.  The instructions given below are to make the body of the bag from a single fabric, but if you wish to make a bag with two contrasting fabrics you can follow the instructions at the beginning of the roll-up shopping bag tutorial to attach the two fabrics (using a kind of faux flat-felled seam), then continue with the tutorial below.  I include suggestions for the size of the bag but using this basic technique you could easily adapt the pattern to make a larger or smaller bag.  This bag would make a great bag to carry around knitting or sewing projects, books, groceries, or anything else that you would like to stick in a tote bag!  If you make a bag with this tutorial I would love to see how it turned out - you can share a photo in the Needle and Spatula Flickr group.  If you like these bags and don't feel like making your own, I also will be putting some up for sale in my Etsy shop.

TERMS OF USE:  For personal, non-commercial use only.  If you are interested in making these bags for small-scale commercial sales (eg craft fairs, etsy), please contact me to discuss a licensing agreement.

DONATE TO SUPPORT THIS TUTORIAL - this tutorial is provided free of charge, if you would like to show your appreciation and support the free patterns I provide here, you can donate here (or it helps if you click through to any of the amazon links on this site, whether you purchase that particular product or not!).  Thanks for your support!

What you will need:

• For bag body: 1/2 yard of fabric or slightly less, depending on size of bag desired and whether the print has a directional orientation that you wish to maintain.
• For straps, either:
• Two 3"x24" strips of fabric and two 3/4"x24" strips of light weight fusible interfacing (easy), or
• 1 1/2 yards of 3/4"-1" double fold bias tape (easier), or
• 1 1/2 yards of cotton webbing (easiest).
• Thread in coordinating color.

How you construct the bag will depend on whether your fabric has a directional print where you wish to keep the print oriented up and down; in this case you can cut a wide piece of fabric, fold it in half (to create a side of the bag) and then add seams at the bottom and sides.  In the case when the fabric either does not have a print or maintaining its directional orientation is not important, it is simpler to make the bag by cutting a long strip of fabric and folding it in half to create the bottom, them creating seams for the two sides.  I will start with the instructions for the first situation, so scroll down if you have a non-directional fabric to find the second set of instructions.

For a bag with a directional print, to make a bag with finished dimensions 11 1/2" wide x 13" tall, cut the main fabric into a large rectangle measuring 24" wide and 16" tall (or 12" wide when folded in half).  If you wish to make a different size bag, just add 3/4" to the width at each side for the side seam (so a total of 1 1/2" for the entire fabric width), and 3" to the height for the bottom seam and the top edge.  Make sure that the directional print is oriented up and down (parallel to folded side) when the fabric is folded in half, as shown below.

To start, make the handles (unless you are using webbing); if you are using bias tape, you can skip ahead to the step where you top-stitch the straps.  If you are using the fabric strips, iron each long handle strip in half lengthwise (wrong sides facing) to create a crease down the length of the strip.  Open the strip and put interfacing on one side of the crease, then iron to fuse it to the fabric (see top strip in photo below).

Then, iron the fabric edge above the interfacing down and over the interfacing strip (see top strip in photo below).  Then fold down the original crease and then fold it one more time around the earlier fold and iron it in place (as shown in the bottom strip below).  You will basically have a roll of fabric ironed in place.

Open up the roll (as shown in the top strip below) and then tuck the last edge inside the fold (as shown in the bottom strip below).

Top stitch along both edges of the strips (or bias tape, if you are using it) about 1/8" from the edge (not shown).  

Then, to make the body of the bag, open your folded piece of fabric and fold down the top edge by 3/4" to 1" and iron in place.

Then fold it down again and iron in place.

To determine the handle placement (or see next step for measurements), fold the fabric back in half along the original fold (where the side of the bag will be) and then fold it in half again, but do not fold it all the way - the folded edge should be 3/4" in from the raw edge, as shown below (as this excess will ultimately become part of the seam allowance, so if you don't account for it your handles would be off center).  Along the upper edge of the fabric that you just folded and ironed in place, place a pin at the approximate midpoint of the top layer and then in each layer below (the pins should be lined up on top of eachother).

Then unfold the fabric and you should have four pins across the top edge.  If you prefer to measure the placement, on the 24" wide piece of fabric my pins were placed at 3.5", 9", 15", and 20.5".  Then, take ends of the straps and tuck them under the top folded edge at the spots you have marked with pins and pin them in place as shown below.

Topstitch 1/8" from edge along the bottom folded edge, securing handles in place, and then iron the handles to face up.

Topstitch 1/8" from the top edge, securing handles in place (and making sure they are perpendicular to the edge when you sew over them).

Fold your bag in half with wrong sides together (along the side) and line up the edges at the side and the bottom.  Sew across the bottom with a 3/16" seam (or you can sew with a larger seam and trim to 1/8-3/16").

Make sure that the seam is even and that there are no frayed bits sticking out, trimming if necessary.

Turn the bag inside out and iron the bottom seam flat, then sew with a 5/16"-3/8" seam across the bottom, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end to secure the stitches.

Open the bag back up and make sure the side edges are aligned, and press the bottom seam open.  Sew the side seam with a 3/16" seam, then again check that the seam is even and not frayed, trimming as necessary.

Turn the bag inside out again and press the side seam flat.  At the bottom corner, where the two seams meet, it will fold up slightly, just poke the corner out as much as you can.

Sew the side seam with a 5/16"-3/8" seam allowance, making sure to backstitch to secure stitches at the beginning and the end.

And your bag is done!

Version 2 - if you are making a bag with a non-directional print (or one that would look good oriented side-to-side as opposed to up-and-down), to make a bag with finished dimensions 10 1/2" wide x 13" tall (note: mine was slightly taller but this is a better height), cut the main fabric into a long rectangle measuring 30" wide and 12 1/2" tall (or 15" tall and 12 1/2" wide when folded in half to create a bottom seam).  If you wish to make a different size bag, just add 3/4" to the height of the rectangle for each side for the side seam (so a total of 1 1/2" in additional height), and 2" to the width on each side for the two top edges (so a total of 4" to the width).   Make the straps as you would for the first version.

Open the folded fabric and at each end, fold down fabric 3/4"-1" and iron in place.

Then fold down again and iron in place.

Insert straps under fold and pin in place evenly spaced from each edge - mine were 3" in from the edge.

Topstitch 1/8" in from bottom edge of the fold, securing straps in place.

Iron the straps so they face up (and pin if necessary to secure - helps if you are using webbing).

Topstitch 1/8" down from top edge, securing straps in place (and making sure they are perpendicular to edge when you stitch across).

Fold in the middle (what will be the bottom of the bag) bringing wrong sides together and align the two sides of the bag, pinning in place.

Stitch sides with a 3/16" seam allowance, then trim any uneven or frayed edges.

Turn the bag inside out and press side seams flat.

Sew side seams with a 5/16"-3/8" seam, backstitching to reinforce at the beginning and end.

Congrats, your bag is finished!