Thread by @vivschwarz

Check out how all my materials have a colour scheme today! Incredible! This means I'll be making something for my friend @froydissimonsen - a useful foraging bag! Stay tuned. ift.tt/2SXoJG8

(later today)

OK I made a pouch for collecting berries and other small edible things! It contains squishy berry juices and is easy to clean.

Here's a thread of instructions, a bit abridged, I'll blog it all in detail later. If you can sew a bit, you can make your own easily, if you can sew well you can improve on the basic design.

You need a sturdy shopping bag or ikea bag for the outside, and the fabric of a broken umbrella or tent or one of those shopping bags made from that kind of stuff, a sewing machine and some sturdy cord (that's all things that wash up on the beach a lot I guess).

If you are good at pinning fabric for sewing, use pins. If not, use masking tape instead. Some scissors, sewing head, a button, an iron, I think that's all. OK let's go

Cut off the handle, you'll need that later (to make belt loops), take a paperback novel (just because that's a good size) and draw around it twice. Cut out with seam allowance.

Cut the handle on half, tape it on like this. Last chance to decide which side is the front side.

Now you want to check that it fits the belt you want to wear it on, and reposition as needed. Leave a bit of space at the top above the belt!!! You'll need it later!

Sewing time. Run a seam across the top and one across the bottom, use the edge of the tape as a guide. Peel it off, that's the belt loops finished.

Fold it in half along the line you drew, crease it well, line the top up neatly, tape it all together in a few places (or pin it if you prefer, but I'm making these instructions for beginners who might not have pins around/don't know how to pin perhaps).

Sew up the sides, trim the excess a little, take the tape off (you can leave it on I guess, it might come off in the wash though and rattle around later).
Turn inside out.

That's the outside of the pouch done! You could already use it like that if for some reason you just want an open pocket on your belt.
But let's add a liner! And a cord to tie it with.

So I hear you scavenged a beautiful broken umbrella and washed it. Well done.
Or a wrecked festival tent? A weird wrong size poncho? Did you take an umbrella - fabric shopping bag to a campfire and it caught and you still got half? It's amazing how often this nice fabric turns up

You'll need two parts for the liner. Get your book back it to measure around. Maybe you noticed I used a felt tip pen earlier and now there's black smudges EVERYWHERE. I'll use a pencil this time...

So you draw around the book again. But the liner needs to be longer than the outer bag! So you turn the book sideways and make the rectangle THAT MUCH TALLER!
The size of the liner will be the height PLUS the width of the book! This is important. Measure carefully.

Use the book to help you draw the top of that neat long rectangle. "BUT VIV IT GOES OVER THE SEEEAMS IS BE MESSYYYY"
It will be fine. Just draw across any seams. You won't even notice them later. Relax.

Cut out that rectangle, and a second one like it, WITH SEAM ALLOWANCE. Don't cut it exactly on the line or it won't fit later.
There, that's the material for the liner. Phew.

Now you put them together, so THE PRETTY SIDE IS ON THE INSIDE. I should've told you earlier to draw your lines on the backside of the fabric. Sorry. If you drew the lines on the pretty front side, just... Draw them again on the other side, I'll wait.

Tack the two halves together with tape. (Or pin them, if you have pins and prefer that.)

Sew up that bag. Take of that tape. Woohoo!

So now the liner is a lot longer than the outer. Huh?
That's right! You need the extra length so you can close it up with a drawstring later. Let's make that happen. Have a cup of tea first, sewing gets more fiddly now.

First, you want to trim this down neatly. It'll be much more difficult else. Snip snip

Now torn down the liner until the top of it is just underneath the top of the outer bag... Like in these photos... Except...
>>>I ROLLED IT DOWN TOO FAR. THIS IS A MISTAKE. SEE NEXT PICTURE FOR CORRECTION.<<<

I should've lined it up with the UPPER seam of those two, or if you don't have a seam there, a few millimeter down from the top. It's that clear? Just... Tweet me if it isn't... It's not a massive deal but the liner won't reach the bottom of the bag else.

Right. Once you've got over this brief confusion, tape the edge down neatly all around. Line up the seams. That's why running them down was a good idea.
(this is just some random washi tape I had by the way, masking tape will work, sellotape would not be ideal I suspect).

Now put it on the machine abs sew all around.
(This is where some of you find they're sewing machine is too big and... Then you'll have to do this by hand.)

Off with the tape! Nice job.
now go get your iron.

Set it to synthetic, dampen it and gently iron it flat.
>>>IF YOU IRON THIS FABRIC HOT IT WILL MELT! <<<
You can't skip the ironing. My gran will come back from the dead and get you. Seriously. This needs flattening down or it'll be a mayhem shortly.

Turn it inside out again.

Fold the top down. I'm doing width of a finger here but... My hand is super small so... use your little finger. (I would go measure but the cat is sitting on my lap now, also it'll be fine. If you wahr a measurement, let's say... An inch.)
IRON IT FLAT!!!

Back on the sewing machine!
Tape, pin or tack it down again before sewing (unlike me who is risking out coming out totally wonky here because it's dinner time and I'm getting sloppy, but I was lucky and it worked)
Sew close to the edge, this will be the tunnel for the cord.

OPTIONAL STEP
Do you hate things getting stuck in corners of bags? Follow these pictures to sew two little ears on the liner (gosh I accidentally made them massive, they could be wayyyyy smaller). That'll get rid of the inside corners.

Liner goes into outer!
Line up the edge of the liner fabric so it's close to the top of the bag. TAPE IT IN SUPER NEATLY ALL AROUND. Check. Check again. Ask the cat to check. Get it straight.

FINAL SEAM
All around, stitching the liner into the outer. See across the belt loops. (That's why the belt didn't go right at the top, see?)
Remove tape.
There you go. You made it. You made it

Now we just need to pull a cord through the tunnel on top. Carefully open the seams to get in there...

... And now pull through the cord.
You can use a safety pin (Google it if you haven't done that before) or a crochet hook if you got one.
I got a special tool for it and I'm tired and so I'll use it.

Just needs a button or a bead now that's just the right kind of thing... With a hole or holes that are just the right size to have a bit of friction when you close the pouch...

FINISHED

To wash this after collecting berries, it's usually enough to pull the liner out, rinse and dry.
it can also go in the washing machine, which will soften it and possibly fade the colours a bit so handwash if you're not sure.
Send pictures if you make one

And if there are any problems, you can reply to whichever tweet is unclear. I'll send this to my friend's blog as well and add a link when it's up.
Have fun!

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