My scraps, lovingly saved but forgotten (which means they weren’t valued or treasured) are shown here, pieced into a nice array. The bag dispenser that my family uses came from Mr. GAIN‘s aunt. She used a kitchen towel and elastic; the handle was made from eyelet trimming. We use our bag dispenser ALL the time. Put the old bags in the top for storage, pull out through the bottom when you want to use a bag. It seemed like such an odd gift when we got it. It currently hangs from a cabinet handle in an out of the way, yet handy place. It could also hang from a doorknob, but that’s not handy for us.
The tutorial. Very easy to follow. I changed the example in the tutorial from something rather small to something the size of a kitchen towel, roughly 14″ x 20″ — the one we have is larger, maybe 15″ x 25″. I also used much smaller scraps, only 3″ high, and I didn’t use coordinating colors. You see a bag dispenser here and it
is more on the “crazy quilt” side than the “designer shabby chic” side of sewing because I didn’t coordinate.
The current dispenser under the needle uses pieces that are 7″ high, and they are color coordinated. The next one will also be color coordinated. This brings questions like, “Do we really need a color coordinated bag dispenser?” and “Why would anyone decorate?” But I digress.
When you use smaller scraps, you have more labor, but you have potentially more scraps to use. When you control the scrap size, you control the amount of time consumed in this project. It is very fast. You don’t need to use scraps, either. You can have one solid color with contrast or matching lines for quilting/stitching, for an even faster time (if we’re talking about a race or very last minute gift).
Sew, Mama, Sew!’s Scrapbuster month has brought a few ideas that I would like to use. The scrap houses are adorable. I will still have scraps once I’m done constructing the in-progress bag dispensers. Not oodles and oodles, though. I don’t know that the goal of no scraps is feasible. Example: my oldest is constructing a costume from a former angel costume. She will have white fabric left. It will go in the scrap drawer. Such is my life.
Cathy