Because the hubs and I are cloth diapering the new baby, we will need to have a couple wet bags on hand at all times, especially during traveling. I had all of the necessary supplies hanging around so I got to work... hope you enjoy!
To start with, you'll need the following things :
Materials
- Waterproof fabric (PUL, vinyl, shower curtain, waterproof vinyl tablecloth, whatever you have on hand!)
- Cotton fabric
- Zipper
- Sewing Machine
- Scissors
- Seam ripper (optional)
To start with, cut your waterproof fabric to the size bag you'll want. I wanted to use a cheap waterproof tablecloth I had gotten during the spring for $1. I thought about my bag dimensions and ended up settling on a 12" x 12" bag, which means I cut a 12.5 inch wide by 24.5 inch long piece from my tablecloth. The backing of this one is flannel, so I was able to just lay the whole thing over my chosen cotton fabric without pinning - it sticks! So to be final, you'll need two rectangles of fabric, one 12.5 inch wide by 24.5 inch long piece of your waterproof material and one 12.5 inch wide by 24.5 inch long piece of your cotton fabric. You'll also need to make sure your zipper will fit in the opening. For this project, you'll want a zipper length of approximately 11.5 inches. If your zipper is a little long, zip it up to the point you want it to end. Put it in your sewing machine unzipped with the spot marked that it should end. Now use the zig-zag stitch on the widest setting but the closest length together to sew the two halves together firmly. Your new ending should be pretty short, but functional. I sacrificed an old zip-up sweater to my heathen craft gods for this craft project, so I had to use this method. (Sorry, forgot to take progress shots for the zipper bit...)
Once your fabric is all cut, you will probably want to do your 1/4 inch fold over on each shorter end, it makes for pretty seams... c: Your stitches should be fairly close together and in a straight line, no more zig-zag-ing for you.
Next, close your zipper up and pin to the short end of your fabric rectangle. You'll want to have the vinyl side facing out on the bottom side, the right side of the cotton facing up for the outside. Sew on your zipper now, and be sure to back-tack your beginning and ending! The next bit is to open your zipper up and sew the other side - this part is key. If you try to do this with the zipper closed, you will have troubles... Once your zipper is on, you'll need to flip the bag inside out so that the vinyl is on the outside on both sides of your tube of fabric.
Pin up your sides and sew your 1/4 seam down each side, making sure to back-tack again. To ensure nice clean corners, snip the corners off at the bottom of your bag, but only up to your seam. Once this is done, open up your zipper and flip your bag right-side (cotton) out. Use something like a pen (with the cap on) or a crochet hook to push out your corners.
Ta-da! Sit back and enjoy your new wet bag! Throw your bathing suit in there after the pool, or use it for soiled diapers and whatnot like we are. When cleaning this bag, I recommend just wiping out the inside with a Clorox wipe or equivalent. If you need to wash it because the outside got dirty, I would machine or hand wash it only - don't dry it in your dryer. Don't worry, it should air dry fairly quickly. The best part of this project is that it didn't cost me a penny! I already had the fabric and tablecloth in my craft zone for other projects. The zipper was from an old (and not particularly awesome) sweater.
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