Practical Sewing: Chess Mats and Shopping Bags

I made a prototype "mat" to help implement a pandemic-safe chess club. It was decided to go ahead with the plan so this weekend I finished cutting out five more mats and serged the edges.  

They're nothing fancy but they will help with movement of the chess boards so the students can play safely with a shield between them. They are made with a sturdy heavy weight canvas that was gifted to me many moon ago.  I previously used this fabric for a laptop cover and I still had some fabric left over after the chess board mats. Not wanting to put the remnant back into the fabric stash I used the last bit for another practical project.  

Grocery shopping bags! These were made with Nancy Zieman's out-of-print (OOP) McCall's 4851 tote pattern. The pattern calls for the bags to be lined but these are unlined and the handle length were shortened.  

The two green bags are made from a vintage canvas that a teacher gave me when she was clearing out her cupboards before retiring. She had a collection of fabrics used to cover bulletin boards before fire department regulations were updated and nixed that idea. I'm guessing from the print and the vibrant green colours that it may date back to the 1970s. Despite it's age and it's a lovely quality cotton and perfect for this project. The width on this piece of cloth was narrow so I wasn't able to cut the two out of the lengthwise grain. Only one is cut in the original size (same size as the red one) and on the grainline. The other was cut on the cross grain and made a wee bit smaller so that I could use up as much of the fabric without leaving behind any scraps. That meant there wasn't enough fabric for handles.  The handles are wide grosgrain ribbon I found in the stash.  

Project Details

Seams:  2.8 straight stitch length on the bags

Seam finish:  Serged   

Tip:  Zero waste sewing projects like replacing single use plastic bags with environmentally friendly reusable bags are a quick and satisfying projects that can be made in an afternoon. They are perfect for using up small pieces of yardage and beginner sewing projects.  

Fabric:  4.3 metres

Thread:  Finished off another spool of thread

Ribbon:  2.4 metres

Patterns:  No pattern used for the chess board mats.  OOP McCall's 4851 for the grocery bags.  

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, pins, pin cushion, scissors, thread clippers, sewing machine, serger, threads, iron, ironing board and tea.  

Stay Safe and Happy Sewing!