Making Draw String Bags for Women's Shelters

Yep, it looks like a tornado hit my sewing room.  My cousin is downsizing and called to say she has fabric to get rid of.  She kindly donated five boxes of fabric.  Imagine the fun of diving into all that fabric!

It took a while but it's all sorted and in the process of being cut.  This fabric is destined to be made up into draw string bags.   After cutting is finished the fabric will be passed on to my local quilt shop.  Volunteers there will sew them up to make draw string bags. 

Next another group will fill the bags with toiletries etc. and they will in turn send them on to the women's shelters in the area.  But in the mean time....can you imagine the amount of fabric that can be crammed into 5 boxes!  I can't move in there.

A few of us have been playing around, trying to find more efficient ways of making these bags.  At the quilt shop one volunteer uses a serger to finish the edges.  Several others sew the bags up, then another inserts the draw strings.  But what is the best way to make the bags at home when you don't have a serger.  Well we are trying to figure that out.  So far almost 30 bags have been made.  And that was within the past two days.

Besides the mess this project created I realized that the "neat" - okay - "cheap"  boxes that I was storing my patterns and sorted fabric in are collapsing under the weight of the cheap boxes stacked on top.  I had to bite the bullet and purchase some proper storage boxes that have lids I can remove without difficulty (as in breaking nails, bones, butter knives or what ever is handy for prying lids off....)

I really want to get the room cleared up so I can get back to my own sewing but it's going to be a few days yet.  Wonder what colour the floor in the room is...haven't seen it in a while.