Saturday, November 21, 2009

Ziplock bags . . . sort of

Are these not cute? One of my work friends, S, is an eco-friendly/green sort. Instead of plastic ziplock bags, she carries much of her food in little fabric bags with water proof liners. I think it's a fantastic idea and so I'm making up a bunch for Christmas. S will get some too. S, if you are reading this, pretend to be surprised, okay?? I used the Split Yarn Zippered Wristlet tutorial (it's a link over on the right under the heading Favorite Sewing Tutorials). Today I made 10 but I have about seven more to whip out tomorrow. I used a random assortment of reds and browns. The other seven are blues and winter-themed.



Some of them are lined with ripstop nylon. The fun part of this nylon? This is nylon that has been to SPACE. Yes, you read that right. My grandfather is one of the founders of the Poker Flats Research Range. My grandfather proposed a rocket range in the 1960s that would shoot rockets into the aurora and deliver payloads of various chemicals to the high-altitude regions. You can read about it here. He has a shirt that says, "I AM a rocket scientist." He's a funny dude. Several years ago, they dedicated a building to him and gave him the parachute of the most recent rocket launch. Being The Fabric Queen, I ended up with some of it. My dad will be getting the baggies that are made with the parachuting material. He'll think it very fitting.





The majority of the bags are lined with XLT Burlington outerwear fabric.


The best part is that I got to use oodles of fun, old zippers.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great idea! Love the grandpa story and thanks for including the tutorial link. I should make a few of these for our own home!

Rose said...

These are so cute and what nice, useful gifts! These are great ways to recycle and use up some of "stuff".

KID, MD said...

What a fun idea! And how cool that you recycled a space parachute fro them!!

Michelle said...

those are great! what a wonderful idea! And a fantastic gift.

Jean said...

What a great story about your grandpa! Love the bags as well --- great idea.

meredithp said...

Coolest story yet! I'm glad the ones with the parachute linings are going to someone special!

Marybeth said...

These are great! I was looking for a quick and useful gift for stocking stuffers and for co-workers... These might fit the bill! Thanks for sharing the idea...
PS - very cool info about your grandfather...

Ann Made Studio said...

Very cute & neat bags!

The information on you grandfather is very interesting.

Erica Marie said...

Love the "ziplocs" but have a question. Do you wash these in the washer after use? Sorry if it's a dumb question, just wondering.

Aminat said...

Wao, those are lovely bags and they will make nice gifts...Have a great week

Bug Adventures said...

Pretty cool!

Reethi said...

Love the bags, what a good idea! (On the other hand, I can't believe it is gift-sewing-time-already, I think I am doomed.)

Sharon Sews said...

I LOVE this idea! Great way to use up scraps and be eco-friendly.