So sorry for the blog delay! Getting married has kind of gotten in the way of crafting. No, not yet, next weekend is the wedding and I feel like Matt is slipping speed in to my tea in the morning. I am literally running from getting out of bed to getting back in bed. But enough about the boring stuff, let's talk about my newest craft! The Cat Litter Bag Holder. What a terrible name, but it kind of reminds me of Bill Nye, "The Cat Litter Bag Holder of Science!" And take a look at the finished bag!
The finished product!
Of course the Crafting Cat Neti had to be involved, especially because this was helping aid in our scooping of the litter box morning routine. Since this was such a small project I decided to ransack my scrap bucket (just a small bucket so far, my grandma has like three giant bins of scraps. I have made many a crazy quilt out of her scraps). I found a few panels in really bold colors but nothing really matched so I defaulted to rainbow, which I could not have been happier with!
Neti, the fabric choices, and a tape measure
And as you can see WE NEEDED THIS! Our bags are collected from grocery store trips, trips to the hardware store and our little convenience mart downstairs which refuses to let you leave, even with one item, without taking a plastic bag. Needless to say we have a lot of them and habit has us shoving them into the closet where they build and build faster than we can poop and scoop.
What a mess!
So the solution was a bag to hold the bags. Genius! I was also DYING to christen my new sewing space. I have a man who loves me! He is requiring that I take over our dining room table and make it my "sewing room" instead. I've made a little space he complains is not good enough but we'll need the table a lot soon with family coming so it's just a temporary set-up for now, but how wonderful! The space is amazing! Why didn't I think of this? As you can see, the cat has a little nap area. She requested that forcefully. But with a view like that out the window I can't really complain about a little cat takeover.
The View
First things first. I needed a plan. I was basically molding this thing in my mind and marrying an engineer has taught me to make a blueprint! So I did with Neti's help... er, uh company.
The plan
I decided I needed a large bag, or at least a large diameter bag and something that would filter the bags down. So as I added more bags to the top I could pull them out of the bottom. It works a lot better when you work with gravity. Each panel (I chose eight fabrics) was 18" long and 4" wide. Once all of the fabric was cut I lined them in rainbow order with an adorable cat fabric at the end. How would I know what to use it for if it wasn't designated with cats? Come on guys, I had to use it.
Ironed and staged fabric panels
Once I decided the order and everything was ironed (my least favorite part of sewing) it was time to piece! I love this part. It's the closest to quilting I can get with this project. Quilting is my true love.
Piecing panels
I next ironed all of the seams open and reviewed my workmanship. Straight seams? For the most part. I'm still working on it. I used 1/2" seam allowances.
Wrong side view of piecing
Once my ironing was completed I hemmed the ends...
Pinned the hem shut
... and then realized that was stupid, I forgot I wanted to tie it shut to keep the bags from falling out. Why hem it when I have to put a ribbon track in? Oh well. I then chose my ribbon, a teeny-tiny yellow ribbon I had on hand and worked it in to the hem.
I sewed it in to place making sure I never sewed over the ribbon so it would be free flowing and I could actually work it as a gather to bunch the fabric closed on both ends of the bag.
Sewing a ribbon track
I then realized that I would be shoving bags in and pulling them out. With all of those seams on the inside I would just be creating more friction with the fabric jutting out and getting in the way and possibly holding up some bags from coming down. So I tediously began a zig-zag stitch on EVERY SEAM to tack them down. I am told that the process is the important part in sewing. I still don't have the patience to believe it. It's all about the end product, baby!
A zig-zag stitch to tack down my seams
Once finished I put the right sides together and sewed it shut! How exciting! It was practically a bag! As I was tying the bottom ribbon shut, which would allow bags to be pulled out but not fall out, Neti helped hold the top of it for stability (I'm sure).
Neti's seal of approval
Want a bag? Just pull!
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