A Buttload of Christmas and Other Gifts

A couple days before Christmas, I got motivated to make some presents for family members: a car trash bag and a holder for plastic bags. Since I could imagine actually using both, I thought they might be appreciated. I made a set for my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law, and my brother-in-law's girlfriend. I chose a fabric for each person I thought they'd like.

For the car trash bags, I followed this excellent tutorial on YouTube. For the plastic bag holders, I watched a few YouTube tutorials, all similar, all nice. In terms of basic design, especially the handle, I followed this tutorial. However, I had to make adjustments because I decided I wanted to quilt the bags. Once I was done with the quilting, I tried to add the channel along the edges and insert the elastic, which I did but it was not easy. The big problem was that the elastic didn't stretch and expand nicely because of the heaviness of the fabric due to the quilting. So I added a strip of unquilted fabric to the top and bottom, made the channels in those, and put the elastic in them. In the end I really like how it looks and it works perfectly. I love the feel and look of the quilting. It also gives the bag structure and body.

My mother-in-law's.

My brother-in-law's.

My my brother-in-law's girlfriend's.

And then I made a plastic bag holder each for my daughter Thome and me!

And then, not for Christmas but sewn on the day of, some microwave potato bags for Thome, Thomas, and me. 

I was given one and ended up loving it. At first, I didn't know what it was, but eventually I thought what the heck and I made a potato in it. It actually works. They taste better than a normal microwaved potato, I swear. They are indistinguishable from baked, IMO. Plus you don't have to prick them, just wash them and toss them in.

One time I left mine in too long and the bag caught fire on the corners. HAHAHA. So I wanted a replacement.

Luckily, I happened to come across a key piece of information as I was watching a YouTube video on DIY present ideas. She noted that you need 100% cotton everything for items going into the microwave. She also noted that normal 100% cotton batting has noncotton fibers in it! You need to order a special batting. I used Pellon Wrap and Zap.

The funniest thing is I tried to find the same potato fabric as on the bag I'd been given, thought I couldn't, found something else, and it turned out to actually BE the same!

Finally, I made some curtains for my daughter's room in her apartment.

They'll hang in a fringe, just like the ones I made for my kitchen.

Here are the curtains and her quilt in her room!

And then, really finally, a couple days after Christmas, I made two of my sisters a potato bag each.

And then for their (my dad's) house, a dragonfly plastic-bag holder.