Back to school - juice pouch pencil pouch

After going shopping for school supplies, my son asked me if I could make him a pencil pouch out of juice pouches. Since then my mind has been thinking of different back to school items that I could make out of juice pouches. Today I went to work on making the pencil pouch.

Supplies to make 1 pencil pouch:

-Goo Gone

-paper towels

-9 juice pouches

-14" zipper

-sewing machine, thread, and denim needle

-scissors

-hole punch

-3 gromits & a hammer

1. Cut the bottom (expandable part) of the juice pouches and clean them. Let them air dry for about 2 days until there is no water left inside.

2. Peel off the remaining plastic from the straw.

3. Lay them out on a table and spray some Goo Gone where the straw was attached on each one. Let it set for 1 minute.

4. Using a paper towel, clean off the sticky straw part as well as the Goo Gone.

5. Sew the 9 juice boxes together in 3 rows of 3. I like to use a zig zag stitch. Straight stitches seem to tear easily. Grey thread goes well with most juice pouches.

6. Sew the zipper onto both ends.

7. Fold the juice pouches in half, close the zipper, and sew the sides together.

8. Using a 3 hole punch, punch holes near the folded edge. If no 3 hole punch, mark where the holes go, then make the holes.

9. Make sure the gromits fit through a 3 ring binder easily. Then follow the directions from the gromit package to attach them.

I also took my fused messenger bag to the fabric store this morning. I choice a button that fit the best with my bag. I also bought some large snaps. I attached the snaps and the button to finish the bag.

Farmers' Market, knitting plyarn, & my fused messenger bag.

I volunteered at the Farmers' Market today. It was so hot that when a short burst of rain came down, my kids ran around in it and got soaked. I always look forward to dinner after shopping at the Farmers' Market.

I also brought my knitting with me. This is the yellow plyarn that I had spun. I am knitting a market bag with it on size us8 circular needles. The 1st 30 rows are knit normal for the bottom of the bag. Then the pattern goes into the round. I got to row 29 when it started raining.

Someone from the recycling comity gave me a giant ADOPT-A-ROAD garbage bag. I love it! Yesterday I fused the bag as is (2 layers). I then folded the sides to the middle on the back side, and then fused them down. That made 4 fused layers. Today I pinned the bag to some black fabric, right sides together. I then stitched 3 of the sides together. I cut the excess fabric off. I turn it right sides out, folded in the 4th side and stitched it in place. I then made a strap out of the black fabric. I pinned that in place. I folded the bag how I wanted it with the fabric on the outside (right sides together), and sewed the edge seams and the straps. Then I turned it right side out. I love it this messenger bag. All I need to do is add a snap in the middle and find the perfect button to place over the snap.

Knitted Dishcloth

I finished knitting the "figure eights" dishcloth last night. It took me a few hours, and it could have been made in one day. I worked on it at night while watching tv, so it took me 2 nights to knit. The book is called "Nifty Knit Dishcloths" by Leisure Arts. There are 16 designs in this thin book.

I started knitting the "green living tote" from lionbrand.com last night. I got through 7 painful rows before my toddler woke up and needed to be put back to bed. I say painful, because my fingers really hurt from it. While sitting in the dark, trying to put my toddler back to sleep, my brain started thinking of the tote pattern. I realized that I was not suppose to be knitting it in the round yet. The base is knit in regular rows, and then you knit in the round. I was grateful for my little one waking up. Otherwise I would have not realized that I was knitting it wrong. I ripped out all the rows and put it aside. I needed my fingers to recover a bit. I still wanted to knit, so I finished knitting the dishcloth. Then I started knitting the tote bag again. I got as far as casting on and knitting one row before my toddler woke up again. I'm looking forward to making a plyarn bag from a pattern. Normally I just make a rectangle, attach a ribbon handle, and crochet up the sides.

Knitting Dishcloths

All of these dishcloths were knit with Lily's Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn with size US 7 needles.

The brown set I knit while visiting my parents last week. One I cast on 36 stitches, and then I just knit every row. The other one I cast on 3 stitches. I knit every odd row, and I would either increase or decrease the 2nd stitch from both ends on the even rows. Increase: knit in front and then in back of stitch. Decrease: knit 2 together.

The green striped dishcloth was a knit one below stitch pattern. I cast on 36 stitches. I knit the first and the last 2 rows. All even rows are knitted

across. The pattern repeats after 4 rows. Row 3: k 2, (k 1 below, k1) repeat, k 2. Row 4: knit. Row 5: k2,(k1, k1 below) repeat, k2. Row 6: knit. Repeat rows 3 - 6 to desired length.

The blue one on the needles is the figure eights pattern that is found in "Nifty Knit Dishcloths" by Leisure Arts. There are 15 dishcloths in this thin book. I plan on knitting each one. I started this dishcloth last night.

I love my knitted dishcloths. Since they have holes in them (just from being hand knit), they dry without smelling bad after using them. They clean tough counter surfaces great. They are gentle on my dishes. They look great. They make great gifts. They are environmental (they are reusable).

Fused Subway Bag

I fused 4 Subway kid's meal plastic bags together. I fused two together. Then I fused 2 others together. Then I placed some paper between the two so that only 3 of the edges would fuse together. I was able to make a bag without sewing. However I am going to go back and sew them together, because the top edge of one side is to easy to pull apart.

When fusing, sandwich the plastic bags between some parchment paper. Set the iron to a wool / silk setting. Cotton is to hot and will burn a hole in your plastic.

It's Easy Being Green: Episode 2: Quilting, Grandma's Flower Garden.

You can watch the show on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Textiles4you

It is in 3 video clips, because youtube only allows 10 minute video clips to play.

#1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P102intlCc

#2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB2krboL-FU

#3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y646SyqxifA

The instructions are pretty simple. However if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Update

I've just been knitting that same scarf. I'm on my 2nd skein. I have also been helping out at the recycling table at the Farmers' Market. My husband was working on uploading my 2nd show on to you tube last night. Its hard since you tube only allows 10 minute videos, and the show is 30 minutes long. My name on you tube is textiles4you, you you want to watch any of the videos. If you live in Chelmsford, than you can go to the telemedia website to find out when my show will be on channel 8. It's called "Its Easy Being Green. I will start taping more shows in 2 weeks. My next topic will be Fusing plastic bags. I am also trying to line up a few interviews / guests.