Pillowcase Shopping Bags

A little something I made for myself recently...pillowcase shopping bags.  I found the wonderfully clear instructions on Spider Woman Knits, and being in need of some new bags, thought I'd give it a whirl.  I had a few vintage pillowcases in my fabric stash, so I dragged them out along with my long-neglected sewing machine and gave it a go.  I'm not an accomplished machine-sewist so my bags probably took me 30 minutes, instead of the 15 that it took Spider Woman.  Still, that's a pretty small investment. 

Each pillowcase is doubled so they're quite sturdy, and the straps are wide so they don't cut into your hand when you're carrying a heavy load.  I packed a few milk jugs into mine to see how they'd fare and they held the weight with ease. 

Garage sale season is upon us, and you should be able to pick up some pillowcases for a pittance.  I really liked that this tutorial uses all of the pillowcase...no scraps left over to add to the fabric stash.  Yay!  They'll wash up better than many of those store brand bags, too.  Double yay!  (besides who wants to advertise for some store when they're shopping, anyway?)

I think they'll be great for shopping, for hitting the farmer's market (does it bother anyone else that some of the farm stands hand out plastic bags?), for the beach, or even as a diaper bag.  I'd love it if you'd let me know if you make one.  Spider Woman even has a Flickr group set up for showing off your bags, here.  So give it a try!

Small things

There are "small things" we can each do in our lives to live a thriftier, more earth-healthy life. In looking at my own habits, I've identified some things that while not earth-shattering, have simply become a way of doing things for me. I thought perhaps I'd share some of these things weekly and hope in turn you'll share some with me.

Today's small thing is... re-thinking tissue paper. I haven't used tissue paper in a few years, that is, of the traditional sort. I happened upon the idea of using the tissue from sewing patterns while browsing my local thrift store. I like the way they look, they allow me to reuse, and I can find them affordably.

The extra paper from the pattern is used for envelopes, cards, and tags, with the excess paper being used to create handmade paper.

I'm sure there are other great ways out there to wrap without using new, bleached tissue paper. Perhaps small bits of fabric would be an option? Newsprint? Magazine pages?

What else are you crafty beings doing out there? I'd love to hear.

Small Things

There are "small things" we can each do in our lives to live a thriftier, more earth-healthy life. In looking at my own habits, I've identified some things that while not earth-shattering, have simply become a way of doing things for me. I thought perhaps I'd share some of these things weekly and hope in turn you'll share some with me.

Today's small thing is....thinking "repurposed" for your envelopes and tags. Let's face it, we like pretty papers, and there are a lot of pretty papers out there to choose from. There are many offered now that are made of recycled content with earth-friendly dyes, but many more that aren't.

If your aesthetic runs like mine, however, you'll be inevitably drawn to vintage and repurposed papers. See, I love the slightly yellowed look of old paper, I like its texture, and I love its history. Instead of buying new, I make my envelopes and tags out of old book pages, vintage sewing pattern instructions, and vintage sheet music. But hey, why stop there? In the photos below, I'm using a 1933 shorthand textbook that I found in a free pile at a yard sale, but you could use phonebooks, catalogs, junk mail, your kids' endless supply of take home information sheets from the PTA, whatever you have around. How about paper shopping bags or old holiday cards?

Last week, Kelly from macaroni and glue, commented that she saves "...little bits of kraft paper, snippets of patterned paper, etc. It's amazing how often you can avoid buying something new if you're not wasteful in the first place!"

Impact? Depends. If you use a lot of paper, opting for a free source such as a catalog or saving those snippets of paper, could save you a fair amount of money and make you feel good too. What's better than that?

And if you don't have the time or inclination to make your own, a quick search on Etsy will yield some beautiful results.

Repurposed envelope set - The Golden Shore from maidenlove's etsy shop.

Stop those unwanted catalogs at: http://www.catalogchoice.org/