Dog Food Bags

This is a print that I got from an artist named Kelsey Pike www.kelseypike.etsy.com .  She even made the paper herself.  I love it! In honor of the, use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without motto, I'm going to post about how to make the dog food bags.  The yellow one is the bag I took with me to  New York for MPB Day.

 Here are two of the bags made from different sized dog food bags.  They are very sturdy and made from a 36 pound and 40 pound sized dog food bag.  I figured if these can hold 36 to 40 pounds of dog food then they can hold anything I could think of putting in them.  They are great for laundry.  I like keeping my knitting yarn in them.

Here's is a picture of the supplies I used in making these bags.  I forgot to include the wooden clothes pins which come in really handy for holding down the hem at the top, holding on the handles while stitching and while stitching the seam at the bottom of the bag.  So if you have clothes pins it will be like an extra pair of hands.  Also, when sewing the bag at your sewing machine make sure you have plenty of room for manipulating the bag as you sew.  The bag has little give and is stiff to work with so you will need room for moving it around while your sewing. It's kind of like feeding your sewing machine a piece of cardboard.  So keep that cup of coffee some where else out of the way unless you want to be cleaning up a mess.
A pair of scissors that are utility or old sewing scissors would be best because you don't want to ruin your fabric scissors.  The clorox disinfecting wipes are great for cleaning the bag before you work with it.  Dog food has an oily residue that is left on the bag so I recommend cleaning it and hanging it on a clothes line and airing it for a couple of days to get rid of the dog food smell.  The needles are singer, universal denim needles size 100/16.  The threads I used are Gutermann 100 % polyester M782 110 yards per spool and Coats Outdoor 100 % polyester 200 yards per spool.  The Coats thread is nice since it comes in several fun colours.  It would be advisable to practice on a scrap of the dog food bag material with the thread your using.  My machine had trouble making a straight stitch without me helping the dog food bag thru the machine.  I found for my machine that with the Gutermann thread in the bobbin and the Coats thread in the top and a large zig zag stitch it was much easier to work with and to achieve a workable stitch.  You can see how the zig zag stitching looks in the picture.  It was a workable sturdy stitch but it did get a bit wonky at times.  So practice to see what its like to work with this (specialty fabric) and what settings for your stitch and which thread works the best for your machine.  Also, its important to have a new needle since this is tough material and you want to have all the punch power you can get outta that needle.  When sewing around the hem at the top of the bag where the handles are attatched I stopped and used the hand crank of the machine to carefully sew over where they are attatched (there is a lot of bulk in these areas so slower is better) so as not to break the needle and that did great.
Basically your just making a simple bag but your just using a dog food bag to make it.  There are loads of tutorials and info out there for making a basic bag.  So here's basic info on how I made one using the dog food bag and hope it helps.  If you want to share any info or advice please do or a pic or your bag too  :  )

I thought it would be easier to write out the info rather than take a bunch of pictures.   What are you craft-cycling lately?

MPB Day was a BLAST!!! : )

Male Pattern Boldness Day 2015 was soooo much fun.  This is the second time I attended. I've been reading Peters blog for a couple years now and its great how he has helped to foster a community of like minded sewers.  Its easy to get overwhelmed with every thing and not get the photos you want or thought you got.  So I am posting a picture of Peter (creator of malepatternboldness.blogspot.com and host of MPB Day) and I from last year.  Don't worry neither of us has aged a bit.

Peter is in the red and white polka dot shirt.  Thanks Peter for hosting and making MPB Day such a wonderful time.  Also, thanks for telling me about Advanced Style and Iris Apfel.  I had never heard of this and looked it up when I got home.  Can't wait to check out the movie/documentary.  That is sooo cool what Ari Seth Cohen is doing by taking these ladies pictures and some gents too.

Here are some pictures of the event and items I purchased:

I got to NY a day early and walked around and made some fabric purchases, Ooooops.  Here you have, from left to right, some wild faux fur, a stretchy jersey type fabric that is reversable, a really cool cotton Egyptian print material from a vendor at a street sale, and some very light weight fabric with flower print all over it from the same vendor.  I've got a few ideas for these things so keep your eyes peeled.

Here are the actual MPB Day purchases.  Blue mesh fabric from Mood and got the Mood Rewards card - so ready for next year already  : ).  The vest pattern is from the pattern swap at Panera.  The silver attitude glasses, hair bob pins, and peace sign hair holder are from the Chelsea flea Market - love that place.  That little silver screw looking thing is a screw with a big easy to hold end on it that Marty gave me.  It's for making it easier to grab while changing your sewing needles on your sewing machine.  Thanks Marty!

Who's that in a fabric shopping mood at Mood?  It's Enrique in his me made shirt and tie.  Looks Great Enrique!

Hey Marty!  That's not a manakin it's Lisa.  Marty couldn't resist the urge to drape and Lisa was sweet to model.

I was excited to meet and talk with Kyle.  The creativity behind vacuumingthelawn.blogspot.com  HOW COOL IS THAT!  she had the bag she made from her blog and was wearing a luscious jersey dress she me made.  Also, she has inspired me to try out some sashiko by seeing how she has done some on her blog.  That's sash-ko when you say it - drop that i, tee hee. Thanks for the inspiration Kyle.  So look for some sashiko in a future project.

We 3 sewers of Bryant Park are pooped but you wouldn't know it by the looks on our faces - somebody show me more fabric will ya!  Tracey on the left (in modernist leaf print - forgot to ask her what fabric that was), Lisa (in rose print she purchase during last MPD) in the middle and me.  Arn't they glam in their me mades.  Love it ladies!

I also met Lynn from www.yousewgirl.blogspot.com she had on this jean/denim top she made that was to die for as well as her skirt and top.  It makes me want to make something too.  In fact everyone I talked with got me inspired and learned so much just by talking with everyone.  I just wish I had been better at taking pictures and writing down blog info.  I'll be better next time.

Look who found a free box at Parsons.  Tracey, Tomasa and Anne.  :  )

The lighting in the FIT museum exhibit just made us look so gooooood.  The Global Fashion Capitals exhibit was really nice it had some designers work from all over the world.

Just for fun I took a picture of this chevron pattern woven fabric at Mood Fabrics when we were there.  I loved the texture, colour and pattern of this.  Then the next day after Lisa and I had finished walking the High Line.  We were walking down the street and look what I saw, this -

Some body or some bodies had used old plastic bags and woven them into the chain link fence to create a chevron pattern.  I was like, this must be a sign.  Maybe there is chevron in my future project.  I'm inspired and amazed at the things people create out of what seems to be nothing sometimes.
Here's to creativity and a fabulous sewing community of fun people.  Thanks Peter for bringing it all together.  Looking forward till next time  :  )