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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Trash Bag

Align Center

Do you have stashes of garbage in your car door compartment? How about in the center console?

Does it just bug you?

It drives me crazy. I hate the pieces of trash everywhere (especially the small pieces like gum wrappers, post-it notes, receipts, etc)...........so I genuinely needed a solution.

Here's something worth a try.



A little bag to attach to the back of your head rest.
That is always propped open.
(Scroll down to see the secret.) ((wink))

And it's fabric, so if you happen to get something sticky in there.....pop it in the washing machine.
You'll need:
  • upholstery fabric (or cotton with interfacing fused to it, to bulk it up)
  • boning, (1/2 inch wide)
  • 7/8 inch wide ribbon (or close to that)
  • velcro
  • sewing machine
  • thread
Start by cutting a back piece of fabric measuring 10 x 13 inches and a front piece that is 12 x 13 inches.



Along the 12 inch side of the front piece (the bottom), find the center and pin it. Then measure out 1 inch on either side and place another pin at each spot. Then measure out another inch from that and place more pins. So you now have 5 pins, all an inch apart.



First, fold over your fabric from the 2nd pin from the left over to meet the first pin on the left.



Then do the same with the 2nd pin from the right, over to meet the first pin on the right. Now you've got 2 pleats that will be at the bottom of your bag.



Then, place your front piece together with the back piece, with right sides together. Pin along the bottom and sides.



Sew along the 2 sides and the bottom with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Clip your 2 bottom corners. Then do a zig-zag stitch close to your seam. Trim the excess fabric away.



Turn right side out and poke your corners out with a pencil (or something similar) to make them sharp and crisp.

Then, fold your front top edge towards the inside, 3/4 inch. Then fold it down another 3/4 inch, creating a casing for your boning. Pin it into place and then sew along the bottom fold, securing the casing into place. Don't sew the back side yet.



Then sew one end of your casing closed, right by the seam where the front piece and back piece meet.



Cut an 11 inch piece of boning and slide it in your casing, making sure you slide it in the right way, making the boning push outward. Then sew the other end of the casing closed, on the other side where the front and back pieces meet. If you need to trim your boning to fit better, go ahead and do so but the boning needs to fit in there pretty snug.



Then, fold down your back piece the same way (3/4 inch, and then 3/4 inch again) and sew it into place.



Then cut two pieces of ribbon (I used grosgrain)......you might need to measure your seat and headrest and see how long you'd like it to hang down. I cut each of my ribbons 8 inches long. I heat sealed the ends of the ribbons and then attached them towards the outer edge of the bag so that it would hang well in the car. (**Or you can just make strips of fabric.) Then I attached velcro to the other ends of the ribbon.




And now you're set.



Go tidy up that car. :)


28 comments:

Kari @ Ucreate said...

You seriously amaze me with what you come up with! Love this.

Rachel H. said...

GET OUT! This idea rocks! I am definitely going to attempt it and show it to you in person when make my cross country trip to come see you! :)

Jenny said...

Love this idea! You always have the CUTEST fabric! Where do you get it??

Glamour Moms said...

This is AWESOME. I am going to have to try this one!! THANKS!! You always have the greatest ideas.

Ashley said...

You're so welcome. This one really came from wanting to keep the crud out of the nooks and crannies of our car. Yuck!

Oh, and Jenny, I got the fabric at fabric.com

https://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=38cae836-f323-4d6e-88ab-b0dffb923adf

The Hughes Family said...

How are you soooo creative...Im seriously going to make one for every head rest in my car!!! Super cute!!!

Northern NY Mom said...

You and soooo amazing lady! yeah ha! I love following you!

Cozzens said...

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

Lyanna said...

Wow, I need 2 of these in my van. One for the front seats, and one on the middle row for the kids in the back that always put their trash either behind their seat or in the cupholder- it's fun to find gum in there... :)

Emily said...

Can you get any AWESOMER? I don't think so!! THANKS!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

You're amazing. I just cleaned my car out this week and meant to look up a how-to for one of these. This is PERFECT and I love where you placed it. Thanks bunches, you're a rockstar! I'll be linking.

tallmama said...

Super cute idea! But I have to ask... where did you get your fabric? I LOVE it and would love to get some for a special project. I'm way up here in Canada so hopefully the place delivers :)

jodi said...

Great idea. I love that you don't go to the store and buy things, you just make them yourself. Cool.

Ashley said...

Tallmama - I posted a link in a comment above. Just scroll up a bit. Good luck!!

JOY said...

Love it! Thanks for the motivation to clean out my car!

Katy said...

I just wanted you to know i LOVE your blog... thats all!

Brenbren said...

I just found you!!!! I LOVE IT! You are amazing. Any tips on how to recover a couch?

Rose said...

Seriously, are you reading my MIND?? My three year old handed me a gum wrapper the other day and I thought to myself how great it would be if he would just put it in his cup holder...but then I'd have to pick it out later. you just solved my problem! Thanks for another fantastic idea :)

cara said...

I just found your blog this morning and spent ages ooo-ing and ahh-ing at your projects. I love them all and can't wait to get started on trying some. Looking forward to following your blog and reading more posts!

Ruth Ann said...

Great tutorial! I wish I would have seen this last week! I just bought one on Etsy for close to twenty dollars!

Ginger said...

What a wonderful tutorial.
Im always looking for gifts for my son and for fathers day(mothers day)This is just the ticket loved the tutorial.
Thank you so much for showing us how.
hugs ginger

Beth said...

I really don't want to buy the boning to keep the bag open, so I was thinking about using my OLD UNDERWIRES. I was just getting ready to throw a bunch of bras out when I noticed your project.

LiEr said...

Very cool! I so need this for my car. Might have to steal the boning I'd set aside for nursing covers, for this! Thank you for the idea!

care-in said...

I really have to try this. I use a gift bag...the type from the stores. This would be perfect for my dd especially since she can reach it.

jaya said...

the project is cute, but think about cleaning it everytime it gets full..

i have three kids and the car gets downright messy evry time we go somewhere.that little cutie isnt going to hold the trash of even one trip..the juice boxes, the straws, the plastic that covers that,the "artwork" they do in the car, the snack wrappers, etc.

my solution- bring a grocery plastic bag everytime you leave the house. put the trash in there, throw the bag in the bin when you get back home. i've given this "job" to my middle daughter, who is four.

her big sister remembers to take the waterbottles. (because no matter how many juice boxes are emptied, they will want water.)

thats so much less work for me.

now if i want more cupholders in my car, i will use this tute(without the boning) to make a few. good idea!

i have seen people use an empty tissue box as a small trash-can in the car. the trash does not get out, and you can just throw it away when it gets full.

Piccolina Designs said...

What a great tutorial. I followed it and love the outcome. You can see it here http://piccolinadesigns.blogspot.com/2009/07/winners.html
Thank you for all your great tutorials.

Jeanette said...

I just made two of these to give away as gifts; they are awesome! My husband saw one I made for a family with fabric of their fav football team, and now he wants me to make him one for his car. Thanks for the tut!

Amy said...

This is adorable--great tutorial! Thanks for sharing!