Army Laundry, or a Cool Bag for a Hot Summer

This bag had a former life as an army laundry bag. I had two sitting in a corner of my green sewing room waiting for their re-invention moment to happen. First I thought of a skirt, but it would have involved too much sewing in such hot summer weather. So a big tote bag in which all of my towels and other summer things would fit, seemed just right.

Still reading my Wabi-Sabi book, I'm inspired by Japanese aesthetics and simplicity. I wanted to make the bag with the least amount of effort, but interesting and functional enough that I would love to haul it around. The bag has a good architectural feel which counteracts the raw edges. Just what I like.

Best thing is that it took 5 minutes to make. Here's how, so you can make one:

Supplies

1. Laundry Bag (they are around 5$ and available in surplus stores and ebay. I like the used ones.)

2. chalk

3. ruler

4. scissors

5. pins

6. needle and thread (use buttonhole/craft thread for this one)

How To:

The principle is really easy. You essentially cut a rectangle from the top part of the bag and sew the two emerging handles together.

1.  Lay out your laundry bag. Use tailors chalk to draw two parallel lines 12 inches long 4.5 inches from each side. Connect them into a rectangle (see image 1). I have not given the distance between the 2 lines because the width of laundry bags vary slightly. Now round the 2 drawn corners by measuring 1 inch from the inside of each corner and draw a small curve to soften them.

2. Cut out your rectangle. Notice the slightly rounded corners in the 2nd picture.

3. Remove the strings from the laundry bag.

4. Sew the two "handles together". I overlapped the top parts. You can use a machine or your trusty old needle. I used a running stitch and button hole thread to make the bag really strong. (After all I might want to transport some books from the library in it.) It's a bit of work to sew by hand through all the layers and my needle broke in the middle. But it's a short seam and the end result is so worth it.

That's it!

If you would like to wear the bag across your chest, just insert a 9 inch wide piece of fabric in your desired length before you connect the strap to make it longer. Experiment. I made my straps wide, but you can adjust the measurements to your liking.

I'm thinking of adding a little pocket on the strap for my phone and keys. But today I'll throw in the towel and go off for a swim... although it looks as if I was heading for NY City on a greyhound bus in my summery black attire. Guess I was inspired by the well dressed traveler heading to a fashionable watering-place...or the "Blues Brothers"...