Make your own wetbag! A tutorial (my first!)

I am doing this for a friend because explaining the process with words wasnt working out. I am a bit worried about letting a pattern I created (with ideas from other places) get out. So if you are in the same circles as me please dont sell this specific bag. BUT if you are on etsy, etc, then go for it. ;)

First I have my fabric. You can make it whatever size you want. I wanted mine to be a square so I did a giant rectangle. But keep in mind that the width (the top where the zipper goes) has to be SHORTER than the zipper is long. So if you have a 20 inch zipper then your fabric should be around 17 inches across. I think I have a 15 inch zipper and this fabric is 12.5 inches by 24 inches. I also cut a piece for the strap, it is about 2 inches by 9 inches. You can make this as long or short as you want. I make my bags with longer straps.
First you need to sew the strap. You CAN NOT iron PUL, so you basically have to make the fold with your hands. I try to pin this fabric as little as possible because I dont want to pierce the fabric more than necessary. So here I am holding the fabric with no raw edges showing.
Here is the strap on the machine. It is not necessary that no raw edges are showing as PUL doesnt fray. But it looks better if you have it doubled. Sew from one end to the other.
And then you have your strap.
Next you need to sew your zipper on the edge of the fabric. Always remember FACE TO FACE. So the face of the zipper is facing the face of the PUL. This is not an easy task. PUL is slippery, so dont expect to get it right the first time. YOu may need to try this more than once.
NOTICE I AM USING MY ZIPPER FOOT! Sewing the PUL onto the zipper. FACE TO FACE.
Sew all the way to the end.
Next you need to sew the other end to the zipper. . Ignore the cut fabric, I had to trim that off. And again, sew it face to face.

When you are done it will look like this. Its like a giant tube. You can stick your arm inside of it (I tried to get a picture but my camera wasnt cooperating).
Slide the zipper down to where you want it to be. I usually do it 2 or so inches from the top. Here it is. Next take the strap and side it where you want it. I do it above the zipper.
Pin it in place.
Now sew both sides. So that you are closing the "tube". Sew over the zipper (notice I went back to my walking foot). Be sure you dont sew over the tiny metal piece of the zipper, it will break your needle (trust me I know!).
Its a bit more difficult to sew over the strap but you can do it! Pull out the needle holding it in place right before you get to this spot. If your machine is having issues with the PUL (as in skipping stitches) then you probably need to change out the needles. I wish I could remember which needle is best (a higher number or lower) but I cant..so try out different ones. Maybe a middle size one.
So then you are almost done. Lay the bag down.
Trim off the ragged edges. Just cut the zipper off, make sure the zipper pull is not on the part you cut off! lol.
This is where a serger comes in handy. You would just serge the edges. But since I dont have a serger I do a zig-zag stitch with the foot half on and half on the fabric so that the thread wraps around.
Turn it inside out and you are done!! A beautiful wet-bag!
I had issues with this particular PUL de-laminating. I am hoping that that was just a bad batch and that this will be fine.
If you make one post a pic for me to see!
;)

Laundry...and more laundry!

So, I never expected an extra child to bring SO MUCH DARN LAUNDRY! I have a system, I usually wash about one or two loads a day, then on Thursday I fold and put away our (mike and I) laundry and then on Friday I fold and put away the kids laundry. But this particular Thursday we were putting in the floor so I had to skip this laundry day. So the next week laundry was piled to what seemed like the ceiling. So I had to do laundry on Tuesday and Wednesday. Oh my word there was so much! Below is a picture of ONLY the kids laundry (its folded, each a basket, and ready to be put away)! I was folding so long my eyes started to hurt! Anyways, so goes life.

On the topic of more laundry...I had noticed that my diapers seemed to be leaking. I was changing Sage's pants every time I changed his diaper (oh the laundry!). Anyways, I looked inside and realized that almost all of my diapers were de-laminating (which means that the part that makes it water proof is coming off of the fabric side). I just so happened to complain to the right person and she told me that Fuzzi-bunz now has a life-time warranty!! So I went through this week long process and WA-LA! A complete new stash of diapers! They are the new kind too so the inserts dont stink as much and they dry faster, they also fit much better. I had been using the other fuzzi-bunz for 2.5 years solid..so they really had served their time so I am really grateful!!!
In other news, Sage has 6 teeth and is sleeping much better (although now he is sick and miserable). I on the other hand, cant stop waking at 5:30! The kids dont usually wake until 7:30ish and know that if I get up I can take a shower, get dressed, and chill before they wake. But then Im tired!! But my mind wont let me go back to sleep. But today I slept till 6:30 (woke at 12 bc I think Mike hit me in the facee?? and then 2am with Sage)..so not bad. I dont feel as tired.

Oh, Im also going to organize/help organize MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers). I LOVE Mops, so if I need to help out to keep it going then so be it! The pastors wife is taking over the children ministry in church and she cant do it anymore. I have a few good ideas..we will see how it goes.

I cooked a meal enough for 10 people this week! We got a ham for christmas so we did that and some other sides, it went off without a hitch! We are doing this thing at church where we meet with a few families of the church at diff. houses each week. We hosted this past week. Fun!

We took away Ness' pacifier, it has been two weeks. The first week we was horrible!! We waited way to long I think. We will do it when Sage is 2 I think. But it is getting better, it had taken him 1 hour to fall asleep and then he would sleep for 1 hour max, but thats all getting better. And hes much happier now that he isnt as sleep deprived.

Ok, gotta go tend to little Sage who is licking my arm getting snot all over me....poor baby...

:)