Saturday, March 15, 2014

Make Your Own Wet-Bag

                                  Much Cuter Than a Plastic Bag

About a month after my son was born, I decided I wanted to cloth diaper him.  Aside from diapers, the second most important item for cloth diapering was my trusty wet-bag.  What is a wet-bag?  Well, it's an adorable and eco-friendly alternative to carrying plastic bags around. What do you do with soiled diapers when you're on the go? Throw them in a waterproof wet-bag. But wet-bags are great for many other things besides diaper changes including, but not limited to: a way to transport wet/sandy bathing suits, funky post-workout clothes, or makeup and toiletries. They are fab for potty-training and other clothing accidents (I keep a wet-bag in the back of my car and an extra outfit for my son... so if...no...WHEN he decides to dump juice all over the front of him I throw the soiled clothes in the wet bag). A wet-bag is a very, very useful thing to have with or without kids. I even sell them in my Etsy shop, OffBeat Betty.  But if you are handy with a sewing machine, I will teach you to make your own...




 Things You Need:

-Sewing Machine

-Zipper foot 
-Scissors
-Measuring tape
-Straight pins
-1/2 yard or some scraps of cotton material (depending on bag size)
-1/2 yard of PUL fabric (polyurethane laminate. It is water resistant, free of toxins, and easily washed. It is often used in hospitals and for making cloth diapers. You can buy it at most fabric stores.)
-14" zipper
-Coordinating thread (polyester is best)

*The directions are for a 10" X 12" wet bag. You can adjust your size as needed*

1.) Cut out 2 rectangles of 10.5" X 12.5" from your cotton fabric, and 2 rectangles of 10.5" X 12.5" from your PUL.

2.)Lay out one piece of PUL with SHINY SIDE UP. Place your zipper right-side-up on top of the PUL. Line up the edge along one of the short (10.5") sides. Pin in place.

3.)Take one piece of your cotton fabric and place on top of the zipper and PUL with RIGHT SIDE DOWN. Line up short edge with the PUL and zipper, sandwiching the zipper between PUL and cotton.  Pin in place.


4.)With a zipper foot, start at one end, backstitch, and sew as close to the zipper as possible.

5.) Take the cotton piece and the PUL piece and fold open the opposite direction so the RIGHT SIDE of the cotton is facing up and the PUL shiny-side is facing down. Topstitch along the zipper on the exterior cotton side, making sure all fabric is pulled to the left. As you sew, pull the the PUL taught so it will not bunching on the inside and cause your zipper to catch when trying to open and close the bag.

6.) Repeat steps 2-5 on the other side of the zipper.  You should end up with something that looks like this:

7.) Cut a 4"X14" piece of fabric for the handle (You can use the same cotton or a coordinating color) Fold in half length-wise and press.

8.) Using a 1/4" seam, sew the two long sides of the folded handle together, lengthwise. Turn handle right-side out and press flat.

9.) Top stitch a 1/8" seam down both long sides so it looks like this:
Fold in half to make a loop. 

10.)Take both cotton sides of the bag and flip them so they are together with RIGHT SIDES FACING each other.  Pin your handle between both cotton pieces so it is pointing inwards, making sure to leave a bit sticking over the edge. 
NOTE: I like to place the handle on the side where the zipper will be opened from so the handle will add leverage while opening.


11.)>>Pull the zipper at least halfway open<<< 
Pin your cotton pieces along the edges so they are lined up and even.  Do the same with your PUL pieces so the SHINY SIDES ARE FACING each other.
Black line denotes stitching
12.)  With a 1/4" seam, sew down both long sides of the cotton pieces LEAVING THE BOTTOM OPEN and UNSEWN. Be sure the handle piece has been included. Continue sewing carefully over the zipper and onto the PUL pieces. Sew the entire perimeter of the PUL pieces and back over the zipper on the other side.  You should have a seam running the perimeter of the entire bag except for the bottom edge of the cotton pieces.  The only place the PUL and Cotton pieces should be attached is at the zipper...other than that, they are their own separate bags.

13.) Clip all corners. Turn the bag right-side-out through the open bottom edge of the cotton. Stuff the PUL into the cotton portion. Tuck the unsewn bottom edges of the cotton inwards and sew the bottom closed.


And now you have your very own wet-bag!!!  Huzzah!







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