Plush Grocery Bag Holder

Plastic Grocery Bag Holder

I have many, in the minds of most people, waaaay too many, Disney plush dolls in my sewing room.  I decided to put at least one of them to good use by making a bag holder for it.  I opted to use Minnie because I had pink fabric that would make a great “dress”.

Materials:

• 1 piece of fabric - 18 wide by 17 inches long
• 4 pieces of matching fabric 6 wide  x 4 ½ tall
• Thread
• 2 small buttons
• 10 inches of ¼ inch elastic
• 1 - 10 inch plush doll or animal

I drew up this pattern for the bodice.  

Cut out 4 bodices, and sew the sides together so that you have a front and a back together, and then another front and back together.  Use a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Fit one bodice inside the other, right sides together, and sew a ¼ inches seam along the arms and neckline.  Leave  the bottom of the bodice open.

Clip the curves and turn the bodice right-side out.

Sew buttonholes on the top of two of the shoulder tabs either on the front or the back of the bodice.

Making the bottom of the tube:

Starting one inch from the bottom, stitch the rectangle together to form a tube using ¼ inch seam.  Stop 7 inches from the top.

Where the tube is still open at the top and  bottom, fold the fabric over ¼ inch and stitch the fabric down.  This will form an opening into which you can enter and exit the casing for the elastic and an opening at the top into which you can put bags into the holder.

Fold the bottom to the inside, ¼ inch, press, and then fold it down again ½ inches.  Stitch along the folded edge, close to the fold.  You now have a casing for the elastic.

Thread the elastic into the casing using a safety pin to help guide you or a bodkin.  Use a safety pin to hold the elastic so it doesn’t come past the opening where you started. 

Fold a small piece of matching scrap fabric over the ends of the elastic.  Stitch in place.  Let the elastic slide into the casing.  The matching fabric will hold the ends together, but you won’t see where they were connected because the fabric matches the casing.

Using a long gathering stitch, stitch along the top of the bag, 1/4 inch from the edge.  Stitch another row of long stitches ½ inch from the edge.  Tie together the ends of all four threads at one end.  At the other end, pull two of the threads, from the same side of the fabric, to make gathers along the edge. 

Leave the bag section, right side out, and turn the bodice section inside out.  Pull the gathers to fit inside the bodice.  Adjust the gathers to fit evenly inside the bodice, and sew, all layers together, between the two rows of gathers.  If you are making this as a gift, you may want to sew the bag section to just the outside of the bodice and then turn the lining to the inside and hand stitch the lining down to cover the seam.

In several places, snip the row of stitching that is showing on the outside of the bag.  On the inside of the bag, pull the corresponding thread to the row of stitching you just snipped, and remove the extra row of gathering.

Sew the buttons to the tabs across from each button hole and you’re ready to dress your teddy bear, plush or whatever and pull them to good use.

I didn’t want to sew anything to Minnie, so I opted to just tie a string around her body, and hang her from the string.  The bodice on the dress hides the string.