Project Bags

The flosstubers I watch mostly have the coolest handmade project bags. They usually link to an Etsy shop (not the same Etsy shop – there are tons of them) and I always go there and look at them. I usually resist because (1) I can (but I won’t) make my own project bags and (2) where would I stop when I need so many?

For the most part, I’m pretty happy with these plastic bags from Amazon. I can get these bags that are white with black zippers – 18 for $19.

Yesterday I was trying to organize and had everything spread out. You can also see that I get the smaller bags for holding the floss and small things for each project.

Because I am not a fan of storing fabric/floss in plastic bags, I ordered these 10 x 13.8 muslin bags and these 4x 6 muslin bags.

May plan is this:

• Place each chart in a plastic bag. I have shown this previously but I use tags that I make out of cardstock, write the name of the chart on the card, and pin it to the zipper pull. I keep the charts in alphabetical order in tubs. One tub is for charts that have all the floss, one tub is for charts that need some floss and one is for charts for which I have no floss.
• I’ll put the floss in the 4 x 6 bags, place another tag on that bag with the name of the chart and keep those in alphabetical order.
• Once I start the project, I’ll put the linen in the larger muslin bag, put the smaller bag inside the larger muslin bag. If it’s a project I’m working on daily, I will stick the muslin bag in the plastic bag but leave it unzipped. If it’s a project I’m traveling with, I’ll zip the bag so I don’t lose anything. If it’s a project I’m putting way for a while, I’ll pin the name of the chart to the muslin bag and keep those in alphabetical order in a separate tub.

One thing I do that’s probably different from what some do – when I order a chart, if it’s a chart I really plan to make (hmm .. I think they all fall into that category), I order the called for floss with the chart. I don’t pull the fabric (I rarely use called for fabric) until I’m ready to start stitching. At that point, I do the “floss toss” to see if the floss is all going to work. Sometimes, I have to separate out a strand of a color or two and do a few stitches to see if it’s really going to show up like I want and remember that sometimes, I don’t mind the blending. If something isn’t going to work, I go through the floss stash to see if I can find something else and if not, I order different colors and hope one of them will work. So, my “kits” will include the chart and the floss but not the fabric.

We’ll see how this all works. I think it will work fine.

Having said all that, if I find a project bag that I cannot live without, I’ll get it. Ideally, I’d like to have a project bag for Christmas, Independence Day and special things like that. I’ll probably always have a Christmas project, patriotic project, etc. going on.

In fact, I found this one at DotDotGooseDesigns and had to order it.

I am not a big fan of Halloween and have never done much decorating for it but there are so many cute Halloween charts that I want to make. I know exactly what project is going in this. I’ll show it all once the bag arrives.