Super Easy to Make Reusable Fabric Shopping Bags

Making reusable fabric grocery bags has been a project on my personal to do list for way to long. I'm proud to share that this weekend I finally got my rear in gear and made some bags. Now that I have the hang of the pattern, I'm going to get more creative with the next ones I make - maybe some applique or pretty fabrics.

Last year Salome at Seven Veils Studios told me about Morsbags. They have a super easy, and free pattern for reusable totes. They can really be used for anything, but I'm going to use mine for shopping bags.

My mom gave me reusable Target bag - the kind they sell in the store for $0.99. I ended up using it to hold sand toys for when they kids and I go to the playground. I was always tempted to buy the reusable bags they sell at the grocery store too, but I knew I would feel to strange about using a bag printed with a specific store logo to shop in another store. I use about three different grocery stores depending on which one I'm closest to and didn't want to collect bags from them all. Then there's my paranoia that if I bring my bag back into the store later on, I can't prove I'd already paid for it the last time, and I'll have to pay for it again (I know - not likely - but I never claimed to be rational.)

Making my own bags solves all these problems. I just had to get working!

I also asked my daughter if I made her a bag, would she help me carry in the groceries? She said sure, if I made her a 'kid sized' tote bag. Her reusable bag also had to be yellow. The little yellow Dragon Tales bag in the photo is what I made for her.

I did make one modification to The Morsbag Free Pattern that my mom recommended. I added a pleat into the bottom of the bag so it has more of a flat bottom. It should be a little easier for wide items to sit in the bag. It's very easy to modify the bag.

With the bag inside out, just pull out one of the bottom corners and measure however big a bottom you want to make. I made mine about 4 inches. You could use pins or chalk to mark the fabric, but I just held the sides in the right place with my fingers. Worked fine, and it's fast.

Do the same thing on the other bottom corner of the bag, then go ahead and cut off the excess fabric at the corner.

When you turn your grocery bag right side out again, you'll see the seam that adds the bottom. I hope this is understandable. If I'm not clear enough, or you have questions just leave a comment and I'll do better.

I also didn't always use the exact measurements that the Morsbag pattern gave. The yellow bag is the closest. Obviously the kid tote is much smaller, and I for the pink bag, I just wanted to use up the last bit of that fabric that I had, so it turned out a little taller. It's all good - and I know no one will have reusable shopping bags that are just like mine!

I Spy Forever

I think I've made it clear by now that I love I spy quilts. I've loved them since I was a little girl snuggled under the quilt my grandma made. So I don't know why it should surprise me that my girls love them to. Maybe there is something universally appealing about all those neat pictures and patterns.

I made a twin sized I spy quilt for my first born when she moved from her baby bed to her big girl bed. My second daughter is still in her crib, and will be for quite awhile, but I'm already planning quilts for her too. I'd imagined that I'd make her something different. Couldn't decide what exactly, but just different.

Then yesterday we were playing on big sister's bed and she was just fascinated with the I spy quilt. We often play with the smaller I spy security blankets I made for her, and she just loves that. But the big bed quilt was even more amazing to her. She would point at a square and look at me waiting for me to tell her what the picture was. I was surprised how long she stayed focused and kept wanting to play (although I shouldn't have been).

I think she'll be getting her own I spy quilt one day too. Different is overrated when the good old stuff still brings in so much fun.

I'm actually working on an alphabet quilt for big sister now. It's taking a while because I got the hot idea to find fabric with pictures for each letter (apple print for A, Blue fabric for B, etc.) Turns out some letters are a bit tricky to find. So that can be my fun and different quilt to make for now. Baby sister will get a different quilt too one day. It's fun making new kinds of quilts, and no matter how careful we are, everything still needs to be washed from time to time. But the I spy is a necessity in this house.

I'm Tagged

Nanjodogz 'tagged' me so now I'm supposed to tell 7 things about myself.
So with my 'IT' hat on, here we go:

1. I'm training myself to get up early and write even though I'm REALLY not a morning person.

2. I talk to my cats like people.

3. I hate clutter, but I'm a packrat. This is a problem for me.

4. As sappy as it sounds, I like to call my husband in the afternoons just to hear his voice.

5. Whenever a new season begins, I always think that's my favorite season (except for summer)

6. I don't exercise as much as I plan to. ( i actually don't do anything as much as I plan too - maybe I over-plan?)

7. I don't forward e-mails that tell me to, and I don't tag other people in games. Sorry.

Personalizing and Customizing

For many months in my Etsy shop, I had a note in my announcement section that I was happy to take custom orders. After one or two custom I spy blanket requests I realised that making custom orders involved a lot more work, and frequently involved buying additional supplies, like special fabric. The problem was that I felt uncomfortable asking for more money than my regular listings were priced at.

The solution I came up with was to create a special listing for a custom I-spy blanket that took into consideration the extra time and money I had to invest. Another problem, that I hadn't thought about that creating this special listing created for me was that about the timing of payment.

Because I'm a wimp about asking for money, I'd usually spend all the time corresponding with my clients about their request, gathering sample fabrics, and even making the item before asking for payment. I'd create a listing for them when the item was done. Luckily, all my buyers are wonderful and honest people, but I'm sure there was the potential for me to be left with an item that was to personalized to resell.

Now, I'll still work out the details of an order with someone, but once we're ready to start actually cutting and sewing, I can ask for them to purchase the listing from my shop. Once payment clears, I start sewing. Even timid little me can handle asking that, and so far every single client has paid for their listing the same day I asked.

Soon after making the custom I spy blanket listing, I also made a listing for a custom Soft fabric book. I'll be creating a custom soft jingle block listing soon too.

The very best things that creating special listing for my custom work has done for me is that I now get far more custom orders than I used to. I think people don't always like to ask questions. Maybe they don't want to take the time, maybe they are worried that the answer will be no, maybe they feel silly bothering someone else, I don't know what all the reasons are. I just know that now that I have custom listings, I am almost always working on a custom order.

The listing makes it easy for buyers. It tells them they type of information I need to start. It lets them know what I'll be doing for them and how long it will take me. It gives them all the information they need to decide to buy. It also gives them permission to ask for exactly what they want without feeling pushy or picky. Everyone wins!

Business Plan

I never finished writing my business plan for my crafting business. When I crunched the numbers awhile back and learned that I'd never be able to make this the kind of business I wanted it to be, and also be able to give up my day job, I stopped working on it.

I won't go into the details about that decision again - it's in a previous blog post if you missed it and are interested.

I'm not stopping or giving up on this business. I love it too much for that. But I'm no long putting all my energy into growing or developing it any further than where I have it right now. I will do all the work I need to do to keep it as successful as I already am. I love the happy e-mails from customers, and the pictures of kids enjoying something I made. How could anyone walk away from that? But I'm not expanding. This is good, this is where I want to be.

I did promise you all some advice on writing a business plan. So I'm here tonight to fill that promise. Even if you don't 'need' a plan ( if you're small and don't plan to seek investors or a loan there's no business law that says you must have a written business plan to be legitimate) it can still be a good idea to help you focus and organize your business. It may get you to think about things you haven't addressed before. Anything that helps your business move forward is helpful.

I am going to wimp out of actually walking you through the whole process myself. I found these links that do a great job of detailing what goes into a plan. They explain it probably better than I could myself anyway.

Another wonderful resource to look into is to find your local Small Business Development Center. My husband took a class on how to write a business plan from them for his IT business and it helped a great deal in focusing our marketing efforts. Ours offers all sorts of classes, and free one on one counseling too. Don't ever feel that you're company is too small to talk to someone at a Business Development Center. I've taken a class and also spoken with them on several occasions. Helping small business is what they're all about. They've probably seen plenty of businesses that are smaller and less organized than you.

Business plan instructions:
http://www.isitebuild.com/simplebusinessplan.htm
http://www.businessplanning.ws/