Monday 5 August 2013

A few words from a Laundry Bag Diva!

The first order of business tonight is to wish a very happy birthday to Bertha of the Old Bags and the Dags!  Bertha turned 101 today!I happen to know that there is a very special birthday card on its way to her from "over there" but the mail is a bit slow so if it is not there already it won't be too far away.


Happy Birthday Bertha!


We have a bit of a guest post tonight.  This might give some of you who like to make laundry bags a few ideas.  Sue N has sewn more laundry bags than anyone else since starting in November last year.  Last count she was up to 300 but I suspect she has going way over that by now.  

Sue talks to EVERYONE about Aussie Heroes and here is one of her recent stories - 



"I had a 50% discount card for purchases over $50 and when I was in the queue I saw a neighbour of mine and we got chatting. I told  her about Aussie Heroes (gave her my card with my blog on one side and Aussie Hero card on the other) and told her what I was going to make with all the fabric and she gave me $20 on the spot for me to get more. So I thanked her and left the queue and got some more fabric, How cool is that! "


Handing over to you Sue N.
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My name is Sue N and I would like to share with you my fabric choices to make laundry bags.

My choices of fabric start at the op shops. Primarily Savers because it is close by. A couple of reasons for this, I like to re use and recycle as much as possible, It helps another charity at the same time, I have a good relationship with them. Get to know your local op shop and see what happens.

I am writing this piece to help you think about the fabric possibilities out there, I use sheeting, quilt covers and even cotton curtains. I take my time in there and turn everything inside out before I buy to make sure that what I get I can use Check the labels too to make sure that it is indeed cotton.

For linings I like to add colour, even if it is a pop of colour, even floral. Nothing wrong with a bit of femininity in the laundry.
Stripes, plain, patterned It all adds to the surprise.
For the outer covers I look for pop culture, cartoons, movies Kids prints are great as the bags are often given to their children when they go home. and generic fabrics. Lots of bright pops of colour. Here are some examples.

I hope this helps you on your quest for fabric choices. 








this last picture is all the fabric ready to sew. I got a great deal with my money. All of the fabric is folded up in 2s 114 sets equals 57 laundry bags. Not bad for $35!

 Thanks very much Sue!

Till next time.........................keep spreading the word and happy stitching!  JMxx


5 comments:

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  2. Sue, we love you and you certainly are a laundry bag champion. It's not just the sewing though, when you consider all the time you put into your huge total of laundry bags that is really amazing. Thank you for the tips on finding fabric. Last year you sent me a bag of fabric which made excellent laundry bags and linings and now I op shop when I can too. Most op shops wash and iron before they sell and if you know the shop you know if you can trust that. I also like the donation side to op shopping. I recently bought a great kids doona cover of circus characters, that will make excellent lining for future bags and I'm looking forward to using it! I agree that it is important to check the labels - and sometimes I've found with doona covers and sheets that while it says cotton the real test is the smell and feel under the iron. Keep up the wonderful work, Sue - we can now aim for 4,000 laundry bags - that should get us all doing the happy dance.

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  3. Great post! after an earlier post here about op shop finds, I went to my local ones and scored very well. I also found a bed valance, it was great as these have so little wear and, cut into strips, make a lot of quilt binding!

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  4. Happy Birthday, Bertha! And may you have many more.
    Sue, firstly congrats on doing so many laundry bags and secondly 'well done' on your recycling and helping out another charity.

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  5. When I bring the fabric home I do wash and iron them first, then I cut them out to size, put into a box ready for making.

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