Free Fabric | By Katie

Back when I used to work in an office, a co-worker spotted a professional lever-pull coffee machine. He and Thom should actually meet. He has a knack for DIY projects and has restored a double-group lever Astoria espresso machine himself. I'm sure we will be tapping him on the shoulder when it comes time to restore our little La Pavoni.

Restoration aside, he was willing to teach anyone and everyone how to use the machine in the building next door. I started bringing my own milk to steam and dropping a $5 in the jar for the suggested $0.50 donation per shot pulled to pay for the coffee beans.

That's a story in and of itself. One afternoon, while walking over to make an afternoon cup of coffee, my buddy Jason and I spotted a free bin. The building where the coffee machine was located was also part of the larger company we refer to as "private brands," where a lot of the merchandisers work as well as a handful of folks who source the materials for said private brands. The bin left out was full of remnants of fabrics, presumably test fabrics used when selecting colors, patterns, and fabric weights for the construction of clothing and outdoor gear. There were yards of ripstop nylon in beautiful prints, paracord jumbled in a heap, and entire spools of thread.

My buddy was excited to grab some odd shoelaces and spools of paracord for his own personal projects. He had no interest in the fabric, so I took the biggest pieces.

Over the years, I've used the fabric for various gear repairs, outdoor pillowcases, etc., though I could never come up with ideas for the thinner ripstop nylon.

In 2023, I attended the Adobe MAX conference. One of the pieces of "swag" was a folding tote bag made from cheaper nylon, but the idea was there. I browsed the internet for some free patterns and ultimately landed on "Crafty Patti's" YouTube video of a tote bag that had similar handles that I love, reinforced hidden seams, and most importantly, a pocket to fold the bag all up inside.

The tutorial is well made, though I would prefer step-by-step written instructions. The steps were easy to execute, mind you, the fabric I had is much fussier than the cotton she used in her video. The extra steps add some time to the process, but the end result is worth it.

I made a few bags last Christmas for some girlfriends. One friend came back and asked if I could make three more bags. She said she would pay me, to which I responded that I only accept coffee as payment (full circle, you see). She said she has an annual meetup with friends from college, and they do a "favorite things" gift exchange during this trip, which makes it so they don't have to fret over birthdays and holidays. One of her favorite things is this bag I sewed. She keeps it in her purse, and when she forgets to bring one into the grocery store, she whips out the pocket, unfolds the bag, and stuffs it full of groceries. She mentioned how she has received many compliments on the bag.

We had a slight miscommunication on timing. She told me "end of the month"; however, it was actually a week and a half before the end of the month. I quickly rushed through three bags, Thom even fulfilling school pickup duties and cutting out some pocket pieces, and even rolled his first hem!

Alas, the fire drill was over. I had accomplished three cute pocket tote bags for my friend's travels.

The result!

Completed tote bag. Apologies for cropping the image, Thom

Folded into convenient pockets

TLDR:

I sewed tote bags for a friend made from free fabric I found in a free box at work.