Travel Lingerie {Undies} Bag

I’m back!  We enjoyed our trip to Arizona but it’s definitely good to be home. I’m also excited to spend time with females.  If I never hear another Super Troopers quote, fart joke, or Fantasty Football stat again, it will be too soon.  We’ll share some of our vacation favorites with you later this week or next.

Today I’m going to share with you one of my favorite recent creations…a travel undies bag.

My brother asked me what I was making.  I told him I needed a bag to hold my underwear in my suitcase.  I hate when they get all mixed up.  I can never remember if they are clean or not.  They never stay in the pocket I put them in.  He didn’t understand. Nate didn’t understand either. (This is why I need more estrogen in my life.)  Am I the only one with this underwear problem? 

I can’t be.  Today I’m here to help.  This bag was super helpful on our trip.  We lived out of a suitcase and my suitcase ended up being a hot mess.  My underwear, however, were neatly confined to their cute little bag.

This bag contains a zipper but don’t let that scare you.  Zippers really aren’t a big deal.  I promise.  I think this bag took me about 45 minutes to make..and that was after I sewed something the wrong way.

You will need:

• 1 zipper.  Any length.  See below.
• 4 rectangles.  You can make them any size…probably depending on the size of your zipper.  My zipper was 18 inches so I went with four rectangles that measured 10”x20”.
• The fabric I used is from the Salvation Army.  The grey stripes were a sheet and the coral floral was a torn table cloth.
• Heat N’Bond
• Fabric scraps for the “C” (clean) and “D” (dirty)

Your first steps depends on if you want to sew on your “C” and “D” or if you want to just iron them on (my choice).  If you want to sew them on, this would be the time to do that.

Place 1 rectangle of lining fabric right side up.  Place the zipper on top of that followed by a rectangle of outside fabric (right side down).

Sew along the top edge.  I’m horrible with seam allowances but just make sure you are sewing through the three layers. 

Place these two rectangles wrong sides together.

Next layer your fabric as you did previously (lining right side up, zipper, outside right side down).  Pay special attention to how I have the zipper placed.  If you turn the zipper, you will have liner on the outside.  Not that I would know.  Sew along the top edge.

Now it’s time to open the zipper a little.  This is an important step.  Don’t forget it or you won’t be able to flip your bag right side out and that would be sad.

Next place your outside fabric right sides together and your lining fabric right sides together…as shown below.

Sew around the perimeter of the bag leaving a small opening on one of the lining short sides.  You will use this opening to turn the bag right side out.  Turn bag right side out. 

Close the opening in the lining either by secret stitching or just sewing over the top.  I sewed over the top because it’s an underwear bag for myself.  I’m okay a few stitches showing on the inside.

Ooo, look.  It’s a bag.

Turn the bag right side out.  Find the center of your bag and sew to divide your bag into two halves.  I sewed over the same line 3 times.

This line will keep the dirty undies from the clean.  Very important.  I also sewed a small (about an inch) line at the top along the zipper.

Iron on your letters (I traced letters that I printed out and the used Heat N’Bond applied to my fabric.) and enjoy your fancy lingerie bag!

Anyone else struggle with stray underwear?  Have you traveled recently? Any plans to travel soon? 

$500 & Buffalo Roam

Last (but definitely) not least in this guest blog series is Amy from Buffalo Roam.

Amy recently moved into her newly built home.  I like Amy's unique (good unique...just to clarify)  decorating style and sense of humor...which you'll see below.  Amy's decorating style is different than mine but I really like her bathroom and kitchen..which you'll see below.

***

Hi there! I'm Amy, from Buffalo Roam and I'm delighted to be at Michelle's today. Decor and the Dog was one of the first blogs I really got hooked on. Michelle sucked me right in with her wit and fantastic projects. But then you already know that, because here you are!

Michelle is going to be taking a little breather and while she's gone, she asked me what I would do if she were to give me $500. She quickly clarified that this is a hypothetical $500, which made me sad. Guest bloggers don't make that kind of dough? Lame.

Even lamer was my first thought: "I would buy a maid. And a burrito."

I don't know where the burrito thing came from, but my husband and I built a new home this year and I'm still coughing up construction dust. Hence the maid. Also hence a very uninteresting guest post.

So I'm going with the second thing that came to mind: Stuff with which to fill up our new crib.

This is our living room.

I'm finding that it takes a long time to settle in and make a brand new place feel like home. I think in this room, what I'm most lacking is a rug.

Something warm like this:

(via)

And because I can't help myself and have to keep things a little country and rustic, I would overlay the rug with a hide.

(via)

I've probably already reached my $500 budget with those two things, but in my world they are on clearance and left just enough to add some sorely needed bar stools to our kitchen island.

Ahem.. The other side of the kitchen island. Of which I've never taken a picture, evidently.

Maybe these?

Kidding! I have no intentions of galloping into the sunset just to eat a corn dog in my own kitchen.

What I'd really like is something like this:

(via)

Simple, clean, have the word saddle in their title, yet lack stirrups. Perfect. And the fact that they're available at Target for $30 makes me and Michelle happy, once I tell her I expect $500 for writing such a stellar and intriguing post.

Kidding, Michelle! Or am I....

Thank you for having me! It's been fun spending other people's imaginary money.

Amy blogs about her new home and ridiculously cute kid over at Buffalo Roam.

$500 & Life on Mars

Holding the blog fort down on this Thursday is Maury from Life on Mars.



I have "known" Maury less time than my other guests but I've enjoyed reading about her adventures in home improvement....like her fantastic mudroom make-over.

***

Since Michelle is now the sweetest person in the world and has offered to give me $500 for guest posting on her blog*, I thought I’d share how I’m going to spend that money.

*Michelle is not aware of this arrangement, but she is now

When she gives me $500, I’m going to decorate my nursery, starting with this:



I love this wallpaper. We are not finding out what the baby is, so I have to go gender neutral and I think this is perfect. I can’t get it out of my head, but my husband doesn’t want to spend $350 on wallpaper.

*I really think he just doesn’t want to get wallpaper and he’s using the cost as a good reason. Well, Michelle is calling his bluff and donating $500 to the cause.

I imagine painting the walls a pale green with accents in the pale blue color from the flowers.

Thankfully, my sister-in-law had twins so my Mom had two cribs. I now benefit from that because I get to have one of these Jenny Lind cribs (or something less selfish like… I benefit by having super cute twin niece and nephew):

I’d probably buy this Tarva chest from Ikea for $150. I’d make it into my changing table:

I’d paint it like this, except not in coral… that probably doesn’t count as gender neutral, huh?

So I can’t exactly decorate my whole nursery with $500, but I can take care of most of the essentials! Isn’t it nice of Michelle to help out with this? Bloggy friends are so great.

Be sure to visit me at Life on Mars and see how the nursery turns out!