Green Bag Lady: March 2010

It's not just the fish in the ocean ingesting plastic. . .

Teresa,

I saw this squirrel on campus this morning as I was coming to work. Not sure if you can tell but he's eating plastic. :(

Bagette April

I heart spring. . .

it makes me want to jump for joy, just like Big Girl! Teresa

Notes From a Crazy Person. . .

When I first read about the shirt dresses from Jordan and Blue Print Crafts, I thought they were adorable. She got the tutorial from Dana at Dana Made It. What a great way to upcycle a men's shirt. I wanted to make some for little girl. So, my friend Mollie (she will probably not be my friend anymore for posting the photo below) and I went thrifting. I do not say this lightly. I am the Worlds Worst Thrifter. Really. I get in a place and get completely overwhelmed. Mollie told me I needed a goal. Ok, men's shirts were the goal.

I bought these three. . .

Like Dana suggested, I make a pattern from one of Little Girl's dresses. . .

I wanted more of a cap sleeve than a short sleeve so my pattern is a bit different. . .

Here are the cut out pieces. . .

Finished. . .

Here is where the crazy person comes in. The finished dresses were perfectly cute as is, but it looked like the buttons needed to come off and new, funky ones put on. The first dress (the orange one) I just replaced the buttons with orange and green to match the Amy Butler fabric I chose to go with the shirt. But, when it came to the green dress, I just didn't have any buttons that made me happy, so, what did I do?? Yes, cover 7 buttons with the same fabric.

I do think it turned out sweet though. . .

Little Girl loves it. . .

This is the other one. . .

Maybe the panties should not have been blue (ignore that). . .

She is so sweet to be out there when it is like 55 degrees. What a trooper!

Aaaawwww, I'm so happy it is spring. . .

Certifiably yours--Teresa

Threadfest

Yesterday and today some of the Bagettes and I went to Threadfest. It is a garage sale type fundraiser for FiftyForward here in Nashville. We had fun digging through the remnants and filling a bag for only $1! Look at the fun vintage fabric I found. I am going to make a wall quilt for my sewing room. I'll post photos when I am finished. The fabric in the bottom photos is destined for my kitchen though.

Big Girl and Little Girl got bags of scraps for a dollar as well to practice with on their new sewing machine. More on that later. I have been redoing my sewing room. I'll have photos soon! Teresa

Plain Jane to Funky Fun. . .

One of my favorite things to sew are t-shirts for people. I usually get the shirts at the end of summer (or winter for long sleeve) on the clearance rack at Target, Gap, etc. Some of the following are for Little Man, and others for my niece and nephew for my their birthdays. (click on images to see them bigger)

This is my favorite. . .the dog in the pocket. . .

My sister gave me a whole stack of patches that she got from who knows. They look great on the shirts!

Little Man has been wearing a different one every day. I asked him today which was his favorite and he said, "I like them all Mom." Aaaawww. Love that little guy.

If you would like to make some shirts too, here are some tips:

•wash the shirt AND fabric before you appliqué

•practice on a shirt you DON'T care about first

•use iron-on interfacing (you can buy by the yard) on BOTH the shirt AND the fabric

•to cut out animals, google search the animal that you like (e.g. dog silhouette) and look through the image results, print & cut out, trace on the fabric with a water soluble pen

•pin applique on the shirt, they even sell little pins just for this purpose

•sew around the edge, I just use a straight stitch because I like how it frays a little when you wash it. If you don't like this use a zig zag stitch

•for tutorials, go here and here

Let me know if you make any! Have fun! Teresa

The reason I wanted this house. . .

was because of this tree. . .

. . .don't tell hubby though. He will say I am an "emotional buyer." Show me a woman who isn't an emotional buyer.

If you look out the window in the upstairs playroom and Little Girl's bedroom you have a perfect view of the gorgeous blooms. Love it, so very much. Happy spring--Teresa

Need labels for all those bags you're making?

Visit www.namemaker.com to save 20% off most web items. Use the coupon code: spring2010 on the final summary page when you check out. Make sure you enter it in all lowercase letters. This coupon can only be used once per customer. This coupon expires Thursday April 1, 2010, at midnight EST.

New York Bag Lady!

Claire, from this post, has been sewing like a crazy person (you have to read that post, it is so cute about her daughter promising bags to teachers AND the bus driver!) . Go check out her new site all about going green and sewing. I love it Claire, keep it up! You sew girl! You might need some labels for your bags too! Teresa

Still drinking bottled water?

You'll quit after you watch this. And, if you haven't seen the Story of Stuff yet, take a few minutes to watch it too. Get a reusable water bottle and use it all the time. I do, it's easy and there are so many fun options out there! Teresa

Magazine Article

I am honored that the Infinite Field Magazine asked me to write for them. You can go read my first article here (on page 57).

Have a great week--Teresa

Heart Felt. . .

A round of thank yous are in order. As we approach 10,000 bags, it hardly seems possible that this little project started out with my husband bringing home plastic bags and as a way to get fabric bags into both my family vehicles. Hmmmm. . .here goes with that appreciation. . .

A HUGE THANK YOU TO:

•Alicia, for believing in the project, pushing me to keep going, and throwing herself in headfirst to help me.

•April S. for being the first (besides Alicia) to offer to help in any way she could. She didn't sew then, but now she does. She has literally sewn thousands of handles on bags.

•Elna, who took my word for it that we would use the machines and keep sewing. They sent us 8 machines that get used daily.

•Shannon (Pixel Organics), who sent a ton of fabric to get me REALLY going, just when I needed it. Check out this month's copy of Body + Soul magazine. Shannon and her husband Chris and their 2 adorable kids are featured. Go see their new great company!

•Kathleen, the fateful day I ran into her at our CSA and she asked me if my bag was from the Green Bag Lady and I had to admit that I was the Green Bag Lady. She told me that she sewed, I haven't let her escape me grip since!

•Connie, who coined the term Bagette while we were giving away bags at an event. We loved it and kept the name. . .and her.

•Lane, who emailed to say he might have some fabric to donate. Might? Might? How about a storeroom of 40 years worth. Love it.

•Karen, fellow Belmont employee who emailed out of the blue to say she would like to help and had bins of fabric to donate, she wasn't kidding!

•Harmony, she saw the article in Plenty magazine and emailed to offer some of her gorgeous fabric. We have been big buds ever since. I will go visit her this summer. Yay!

•Ann, I knew here from church, but didn't know how great she was until she started helping with the project.

•April P., lives 2 blocks from me and I have known for 8 years, but found out about the project from a friend of hers in NYC. Small world, she asked to help sew, and so she does!

•Leyla, one of our new comers, such a sweet soul, we are happy to have you on board!

•Carole, I knew I loved her when she sewed 50 bags the first week I met her. We'll keep her!

•Sara, in the beginning when I was getting so many requests from all over, she reached out all the way from Knoxville to offer help. Wow.

•My Dad, words are really not enough to tell you how much he has done. Seriously, this project would not be here without him. He has been the main financial support and does all the technical aspects of the site as well as 98% of the emailing and shipping.

•And, of course, many past helpers like Anna, Lindsey, Barbara, Margaret, Jennifer, Glenda and Rich.

•Our lovely, lovely sponsors who donate fabric, Amy Butler, Harmony Art, Les Indiennes, and Pixel Organics.

•Bongo World for coffee at events and freebie donations, Namemaker for labels and Emma for the serger.

•And let's not forget you, the readers, the bag toters, the fabric donators, etc. Keep up the greening of your life. We'll be here, making bags!

Thank you everyone, so much. This has been such a crazy and fun ride and I'm so glad you are sharing it with me. It means a great deal that you are all still here, still helping, still sewing, still laughing and still tolerating me! Much love and many hugs--Teresa

At NPT on Wednesday. . .

We had such a great time at NPT on Wednesday night. We answered phones for their membership drive and gave away bags to those that called in to pledge. I got to speak briefly about Green Bag Lady. The staff and talent there are so wonderful I was ready to move in!

On air. . .