Preparing for craft time - no-sew totes.

An unexpected project popped up to keep me busy tonight as I do some prepping for a craft hour at the project. While I was googling some ideas for easy crafts, I came across some no-sew ideas and decided to adapt. We're making some no-sew totes!

Luckily, Jo-ann fabrics had a sale on some material - "fat quarters" to those who know what they are. If you don't know, they are 18" x 21" sections of a yard of material sold in bundles. You can also use bandanas but I liked that these allow a different pattern for every bag, and there's no possible issue with connotations of gang colors etc (Bandanas are banned in our schools for that reason).

So I got fat quarters and fat eights (or 1/16ths I guess, long strips 3" x 42").   I made a test piece to see what it's like and how easy it is. What do you think?

No-sew bag/ tote

Tonight I plan to get started on 1) pre-cutting all the side strips and 2) seaming the top of each quarter with fabric tape and an iron. Then the girls will knot the sides, and braid the strips for a handle.

I was nervous about how sturdy this would be so I filled it with all the fabric bundles (almost 5 pounds) and carried it home from work.  The sides and handle held up fine, stretched a little so I wouldn't be using it for heavy books, but as a small bag, it's fine.

For the younger girls, the bags will be smaller with a lot less knotting to do.

Hopefully within a couple of weeks I will have photos of some that the girls have made!