Sewing Challenge Complete!

That’s right, I signed up for a craft challenge contest. While it’s a little intimidating to share my sewing experiments with the world, because – quite frankly – a good share of the experiments don’t end well, I didn’t want to pass up the chance to play along with other upcyclers and pass up a chance to win $100 towards this fun shop. I wasn’t really sure what to expect in the mail based on the description of the contest.

I was pretty relieved to open the package and find: 1 lavender pillowcase (cotton-polyester blend), 6 buttons, and 1 tissue box. I thought there might be something like old computer parts, or metal, or something that would completely stump me or require special tools.

After removing the inner plastic from the tissue box opening (in retrospect, I could've left the plastic there), I separated it in halves and taped them in to secure squares. Using my trusty seam ripper, I took out the pillow case edge seam to get a few more inches of fabric. After this, the rest pretty much sort of happened without a clear plan so there aren’t any more photos of the work in progress after this.

Here’s the finished product. It’s a reusable bag that folds up small for storage. We have a couple of these around the house, but ideally I would like to have at least one in each vehicle, the bike trailer, and the stroller. Although we do recycle and reuse the plastic bags, we definitely have a huge stash of them already and could easily live without acquiring more.

The bottom corners fold over the stiff bottom (that’s where the tissue box is – which is completely covered enclosed in fabric on the inside of the bag and held in place with simple straight stitches and embroidery floss).

The bag has a generous and wide opening, and wide enough straps that they shouldn’t cut in to my shoulder when it gets filled with heavy items. It's a good length to carry over one shoulder, and my 4 year old carries it across her chest like a messenger bag (yes, we've already put it to use!).

But it all folds up when not in use to fit in glove box or stroller pocket easily!

In the end, I used nearly all the pillowcase (all but a few inches), 2 of the buttons, and most of the tissue box (only the plastic was removed). I supplemented from my own craft items by using shipping tape, embroidery floss, and sewing machine thread. Thanks for the invitation to play Tricia!