Thursday, September 2, 2010

Recycled Subway Bag Bib

My family and I make a lot of four hour car trips to visit my parents and my in-laws in Vermont. The trip is long enough as it is, so stopping is avoided at all costs. Before we leave, we run to Subway to get sandwiches to eat in the car on the way up. My three year old daughter always gets the same thing: a kid-size turkey sandwich, apple slices, and milk. The meal comes in a cute little bag, and the bag designs change every few months. She has about ten of these bags with everything from penguins to the Eiffel Tower on them. I started thinking about what I could do with these bags because let's face it, why does she need ten little Subway bags?

This summer my daughter got a couple of the Little League Softball bags. I took a look at the tag inside the bag. They are made from 100% polypropylene. I did a little research on polypropylene and found out that it is BPA-free and phthalate-free. I immediately thought, "This would make a great baby bib." The material is water-resistant, and food will just wipe right off of it. So this is the result...


I used two Subway kid's meal bags to create the front. 


I used a seam ripper to tear out all of the seams (which was really quick work) until I was left with just the front pieces of the bags. 


I traced one of my 7-month-old's bibs onto a piece of paper and cut the pattern in half. I traced half the pattern onto one bag front, adding a quarter inch seam allowance. I then traced the other half of the pattern onto the other bag front, again adding the seam allowance, but I turned the bag 90 degrees to get the softball pattern running vertically instead of horizontally. I ended up with two pieces (one from each bag) for the front of my bib.


I sewed these two pieces together to form the front of the bib, traced the completed front onto the wrong side of a piece of cotton chenille, and cut out the chenille for the back.


I pinned the front to the back with the right sides facing, sewed around the outside, leaving the neckline open, then turned it right side out. Next, I created a length of 1" bias tape for binding the neckline and creating the ties. (Not sure how to make bias tape? Check out this tutorial from Prudent Baby.) Once I centered the bias tape and sewed it on the neckline, I cut the ties to the length that I wanted and knotted the ends.

The end result looks super cute...


Kind of patriotic looking... as American as baseball (or softball in this case) and apple pie!

Thanks for stopping by today! If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my appreciation giveaway. The giveaway ends this Saturday, September 4, 2010 at 11:59 PM (EST).

I'm linking up this project at...




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14 comments:

Andi said...

This is so creative and cute! I love how you turned the pattern 90 degrees.

Kathleen @ Measuring My Life said...

This is so cute - love that you re-used lunch bags!

KJ@letsgoflyakite said...

This is so resourceful. I love new uses for shopping totes. We don't have these bags in Canada, but I will be visiting Vermont in October and it is now on my list of things to pick up. these sorts of bags.

Michelle @ Delicate Construction said...

So cute, I love how it came out!

Sandy said...

Why have I never seen those little 'kiddy meal bags"? I guess it's because we don't eat meat and it's been years since buying there.. but I love your cute idea of baby bibs from them!
I wanted to thank you for your visit to my blog today.. and your kind words...
Sandy
thewondersofdoing@blogspot.com

annies home said...

great idea I love how they turned out and the idea to recycle into a baby bib is wonderful

Anonymous said...

that is such a great re-purpose for the Subway bag! We have saved a few of these too, but would have never thought to make a bib! I'm in need of bibs these days, so going to have to try it! Thanks for sharing your project!

HoosierHomemade said...

So cute! Love the idea of re-purposing! I'd love for you to stop by my other blog, It's a Blog Party, I host a different linky everyday, Mondays are craft days.
http://itsablogparty.com
~Liz

Sassy Sites! said...

Great job! You have a very cute blog here. I'm visiting from Made bY you Monday! I'm a follower! Stop by Sassy Sites when you get a chance! xoxo

Marni @ Sassy Sites!

Jen said...

I love a good repurposing project. Love it.

Anonymous said...

This is great! I have about 30 Subway kids meal bags and don't know what to do with them. Do you want them? We're getting ready to move and I hate the idea of throwing away something that someone else might find helpful. Any ideas on what to do with extra Subway bags? I'll be happy to mail them to you.

Gwen @ Gwenny Penny said...

Anonymous - Thank you so much for the offer, but I probably have about 20 of them that I don't know what to do with, either :) Some of the older bags are actually recyclable! Check the back or bottom of the bag for a recycling code.

chaotik_lord said...

I found this looking for repurposing ideas for my collection of bags. Because I find the Subway kids' meal is just my size, and because I collect Muppets, Pixar, Star Wars, and other Disney stuff, I have an intentional collection of bags. I wasn't sure if I could sew them, but I see that I can.

Question: how do you clean this material? I use my Muppets bags for my lunch, because the spacious drawstring bag is perfect for my collection of fruits, vegetables, and snacky stuff that I pack to eat. However, the veggies in particular have given the bags a little odour over time. Since you are using them for bibs, you are the perfect person to ask about cleaning them!

Sorry for posting on your very, very old thread. XD. I promise I look forward to seeing what other kinds of fascinating stuff you have around here. :)

Gwen @ Gwenny Penny said...

@Aidan Devlon - This one took me back... My youngest is 6 now, so baby bibs are a distant memory :) If I recall correctly, the Muppet drawstring bags are made of a different material than the old bags that I used for this project. I think the Muppet bags are kind of a mesh-like fabric versus the old glossy coated plastic bags. I looked to see if we have any of the newer bags kicking around, but we don't at the moment. My only worry is that it's more of a paper-like fabric and might deteriorate if you completely submerge it in water. You might be able to handwash the bag in dish soap and let it air dry. Maybe test a duplicate bag or a bag that you don't care about first, though.

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