Thank you Carol of Just Let Me Quilt for organizing another wonderful blog hop. I’ve had to miss a few hops recently, and it’s so sad. I’m just getting over Covid but refused to miss this one. Time to showcase my favorite new zippered pouch!
First, let me share my favorite sewing gadget. It’s usually used for eating sushi You see, one sturdy chopstick is the best gadget! I use it for pushing corners out through the lining of a bag and so many other steps for projects with zippers. I have used it to push out edges of baby bibs and even to hold things when using a hot iron.
I’ve often heard about people who cut up canvas drop cloths to use for sewing projects. I wanted to give this a try and finally I took the plunge. I’ve made cross body bags, box zippered bags, zippered pouches and there’s a canvas tote bag in my future too. Instead of purchasing canvas yardage at a fabric store, I bought a $9.00 4′ x 5′ canvas drop cloth on Amazon. It is a light beige color, has enough weight to work well for bags and has been great for all my applications.
MY EXPERIMENT BLEACHING THE CANVAS
Not content to keep things simple for myself, I went ahead and tried something wacky. I cut off a piece of the canvas drop clothing tried bleaching it a whiter color. After following online directions, running out to buy bleach, emptying a pail and soaking the canvas for 14 hours, the results were unimpressive! The canvas came out NO DIFFERENT than when I began. Yup, the color didn’t change one bit. While the texture is the same as before, I had now made the entire house smell like a swimming pool! The canvas was odorless to start and looked clean before I began, so no improvements were made. If you prefer working with a whiter canvas material, you’ll need to find an alternative to the brand I used.
I’ve finished 4 of these zippered pouches, given some away and now I can’t stop! For the front, I used solid scraps and created a random design going around the central canvas. After pressing, I trimmed the front piece to be 7″ x 11″ in size. To add some heft, I then ironed a piece of fusible batting to both the front and back pieces. I quilted the front piece only with just straight lines. You really can quilt the backing piece too, and sometimes I do that if I’m in the mood. I added a D-ring tab to one side of the bag. The tab helps when pulling open the zipper, plus it adds a nice touch. (I use a lot of D-rings when making bags or doll clothes. I found this assorted bundle of D-rings on Amazon, which has lasted me a long time.)
The final bag at 10.24″ x 6.5″ is a convenient size so many uses. Here is how I used the chopstick to help shape the inside-out bag.
Thank you for stopping by. Check out all the other fun creations and gadgets being shown this week. You can find the Queen of Gadgets Pinterest page HERE.
Check out the Queens of Gadgets!
September 19
September 20
MooseStashQuilting
For The Love Of Geese
Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
Food for Thought
Karrin’s Crazy World
Patchouli Moon Studio
September 21
Inflorescence
Selina Quilts
Samelia’s Mum
Just Sew Quilter
That Fabric Feeling YOU ARE HERE!
Songbird Designs
Just Because Quilts
September 22
Ms P Designs USA
Quilted Delights
Words & Stitches
Beaquilter
Quilt Schmilt
Crazy’boutquilts
September 23
Just Let Me Quilt
Quilt Doodle Designs
DayBrook Designs
Lianne Makes Stuff
Homespun Hannah’s Blog
Time 4 Stitchn
Lynn’s Blog
That Fabric Feeling 
Colorful pretty bag. The chopsticks are a great idea.
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Thank you so much. I love chopsticks for so many things!
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Now that is a great gadget to include in this hop! I must admit I have heard of chopsticks being used in the sewing room, but mine haven’t managed to get out of the kitchen and to the studio yet.. I must change that!! Love your pouch 🙂 xx
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Trust me when I say, chopsticks are perfect for the sewing room!
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Chopsticks are quite handy! I love your bag! Thanks for sharing.
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Brenda, thank you for stopping by. I am having trouble posting comments on other people’s blogs but this hop has been so fun. Makes me want to buy
some more gadgets!!
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thanks for sharing. I too use chopsticks for a lot of things. in my sewing room, in the laundry room, in the kitchen, on the bbq, etc… great little gadgets
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Lori, you make me so curious now. The barbecue?? Laundry room? Do share your secrets please!
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It is great in the laundry room in the dryer when some lint is caught in the trap. I find that I can keep it relatively clean until cleaning day for the whole lint trap. I have had some things get caught in the washers holes on the inside and the pointy part of the chopstick will get them out. I also use them wrapped with a rag to clean certain areas on the washer and dryer. On the bbq, I will use them to scrap off some burnt on food so it doesnt stick to the new meat going on.
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Love, love your idea to use the chopsticks – just the thing!
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Do give them a try…you will find so many uses for them!!
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chop sticks are the best, I use mine all the time and must admit I never gave them a thought as a gadget. DUH
I am a great user of canvas drop cloths but I never gave a thought to bleaching one. I have stamped a large piece with permanent ink and a flower stamp and then made a bag with them. I have used my drop clothes as table cloths for picnics and then cut around the wine stains for tote making after the laundry. I get mine at Harbor Frieght always with a coupon. Best buy on fabric.
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Selina, That all sounds amazing. I will have to check out the ones from Harbor Frieght. If you ever try to bleach them, let me know how it goes. I’ve seen tutorials online for bleaching but obviously they had different material than me. I love all your uses for canvas. Do you wash your canvas bags too? I was happy to wash the canvas first so I could know it was all washable in the end. So lovely sharing ideas with you. Great ideas come for these hops!!!
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I would never have thought to use a chopstick in the sewing room! Thanks for sharing … and showing us your wonderful pouch!
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Gail, it’s the best tool ever! Thank you for stopping by.
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It never occurred to me to use chop sticks, I’ve always used orange sticks and have my husband round the point.
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Denise, you’ll see that the chopstick works like magic. Check it out and no more needing to round the shorter orange sticks.
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Chopsticks are a great tool in the sewing room. I’m sorry that your canvas didn’t respond to the bleaching, but the bag you made looks fabulous.
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Kathleen, Thanks so much. I was really looking forward to the bleaching working but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I also like the bag but will keep my eyes out for a whiter canvas for some variety.
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Just read your blog and learned that you had Covid! I hope you are feeling better and getting stronger each day. Sending you love and wishes for a healthy year filled with love and joy. Miss you my sweet friend!
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Rachel, yes, indeed I had Covid. We’ve had 32 cases at work this month so it was inevitable!! I’m good now and feeling fine. I couldn’t dodge the virus forever I suppose!
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That is such a cute bag, and the chopsticks definitely are a great way to turn and poke corners. Thanks for sharing this gadget tip, Elana!
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Thank you for stopping by and yes, the chopsticks should be in everyone’s arsenal! I truly appreciate your sweet comments.
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I forgot all about my chopstick in my arsenal! I use it to turn corners, too. It’s a handy, cheap gadget (I still can’t eat sushi very well with them, though – LOL)
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Hey, you can sew and therefore, chopsticks can still be your friends!!
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I know exactly how useful chopsticks are for sewing! I’ve used them forever for corners and stuffing things, etc. I know I wouldn’t be able to eat much with them though. LOL
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Annie, just like Wendy above, you need not eat with chopsticks if you have other handy uses for them!!
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I love the bag–very colorful and cute. I use chopsticks to push out corners, etc. too. It’s a very useful tool–better than a stiletto that can push right through the fabric. Thanks for sharing!
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Carol, you’re right about the chopstick being safer than a stiletto. I have poked through once or twice, so I get it. Thanks for stopping by.
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What a great tip to use a chopstick as a sewing gadget! Your pouch is really nice.
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Thank you for stopping by.
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Chopsticks are the best for turning tools. I actually bought some lacquer finished ones so they are nice and smooth. Well, OK they were for eating, but have since been repurposed. LOL!! That’s really disappointing about your canvas adventure. Now if only our clothes would hold their color as well as your canvas did. 🙂 Great tip about the dropcloth though. I might just have to put one in my Amazon cart too.
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Joan, Isn’t it true that when you want to bleach something it doesn’t work…but when you don’t want the bleach…it spills anyways!!
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I use a chopstick all the time too. Thanks for sharing your pouch, it is cute.
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Thank you so much. I am glad you’re part of the chopstick club !!
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The chopstick is one of my favorite gadgets, too. I use them all the time and love them for turning stuffies right side out when paired with a hard plastic straw. Your pouch is awesome and thanks for the story about bleaching the canvas. I like your color of canvas anyway.
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Carla, That idea of using them with a straw…genius!! Thank you for that top!! I really appreciate the idea. Yeah, the bleaching was a total bust but at least I tried, right!?
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The further I get into this blog hop, the more amazed I am at how each post is so different from the rest. This is probably the best blog hop ever! Thanks for sharing.
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Pamela, you’re so right that this hop is very fun and so useful! I adore each of these blog hops but this one had me at hello!
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Excellent gadget and very cute pouch. Love the rainbowy colours.
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Thank you so much. I tried to use solids only so those are the colors I pulled first.
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