My Recycled Bags.com

Recycled Dog Food Bag

I’ve had recycling a dog food bag on my to-do list for quite some time. I’ve saved several of the plastic webbed food bags and just needed to rinse them out and upcycle them into tote bags. The first step was to remove the dog food odor and clean them.

I opened the bottom seam of the bag as it was just taped closed. I washed them out in the bath tub and then rinsed once with white vinegar and let them air dry. There still was a hint of dog food smell so I sprayed down the inside of the bag using a homemade citrus-vinegar solution. After another rinse and dry, the bags smelled clean with no hint of dog food.

Once the bags are all clean and dry, I was ready to start cutting. For the larger tote, I cut the bottom off just above the writing and details of the bag. I did this to try and eliminate some of the boring part of the bag. I then cut part of the top off and folded over the top edge twice to make a nice hem. The finished size of the recycled dog food tote bag is 17 inches tall, 15 inch wide and 6 inches deep at the base. I used some webbing strap material to add the handles and just folded them under the hem before sewing the top hem in place. This secured the handles in place and hid the ends of the webbing. The finished length of the handles are 10 inches long on my bag shown.

Here is the inside of the tote bag with the bottom sewn

My Singer 66 Treadle Sewing Machine

Here is my new sewing machine. It’s a 1950 vintage Singer 66 treadle sewing machine. I’ve been on the hunt for a Singer 66 treadle. After searching the internet, eBay, Craig’s list and other vintage sewing machine sites, I finally found this beauty just down the road from me at a yard sale. The sweetest part was that is was only $75.

She’s a Singer 66 treadle in a cabinet some call the schoolhouse cabinet. Apparently this cabinet was used in school home ec classrooms because they were a cheaper model sold by Singer and thus the name. I’m told this machine has the Filigree decals.

I was so excited to find this machine in such great condition. This later model even has reverse which is a real bonus. Plus it came with the original owner’s manual and a box of attachments. It just needed a new belt as the old one was dry rotted and broke. So I oiled it all up and installed a new belt, it was time to test it out.