It was on my birthday a couple of years ago that one of my friends had an accident. This was no ordinary accident. She is still (just) in her 40’s, although her big birthday is this month (and she will probably have had it by the time this blog is published), and – I hope she will forgive me for letting out this information – she has Addison’s Disease. On my birthday she had an adrenal crisis, which resulted in her falling down the stairs, and being airlifted to hospital. A month or so later, she returned to our quilting group, and had a walking frame to help her – along with needing a wheelchair for some of the time. One of her neighbours – and a member of our quilting group, adapted a cotton tote bag to make a bag for our friend to use on the walking frame.
Around this time, the quilt shop Threads and Patches (near Bletchley) advertised about a promotion that was running. You could apply to Milton Keynes council for some tea towels – they had set a challenge to use their tea towels to create something. These tea towels were celebrating 50 years of Milton Keynes. As a result of the adaptation of a shopping bag, I decided to try to do the same with the tea towels. The key difference to these bags is the handles; the handles have Velcro on them, so that they can be attached round the top rung of the walking frame. I have adapted my handles further, so that the handles can be attached to the opposite side, or attached side to side (like a traditional bag).
Is there a need for this sort of bag? Well, yes – there is. When in a house and needing the walking frame to get around, you may need to carry a phone, a personal alarm, a notebook, medication. All these items need to be within reach – possibly at all times, and how do you ensure that? You put them all in a bag. When you are using a walking frame, how do you carry the bag? Over your shoulder, in your hand? Both of these options can mean that you forget the bag the next time you get up. Yes, you could tie the bag to the walking frame – but can the user get into the bag easily, to get the items they need? This is the reason for having two ways for the handles.
There are many practical considerations for this bag, and not just the reason for having it, and making it so it can be attached to a walking frame. Another consideration that has gone into this bag is the use of Velcro (other brands are available – look for hook and loop tape); my mum had problems with gripping things, holding things, and towards the end of her life she found that shoes with Velcro on them were the best option for her. I agree that the handles would look great with buttons on them; however, for some people with disabilities requiring a walking frame, the fine motor skills needed to manipulate buttons and buttonholes are not in abundance. Using Velcro means that the bag can be easily adapted by the person using it.
Why use tea towels? Well, as Milton Keynes Council had the Tea Towel Challenge, I thought that it would be an ideal opportunity to have a free tea towel or two. I am a big believer in going all out to get Freebies wherever possible (which is why I enter so many competitions on Facebook – but don’t knock it, I have actually won quite a few things by doing this, including tickets to the Craft4Crafters show). Also – I like to try to make things easy for myself, although sometimes it seems I set out to do the exact opposite. Using tea towels to make this project means that it is very achievable for the least confident of sewers / sewists (I prefer the word sewer – meaning someone who sews, but given the other thing it could mean, sewist seems more acceptable…although if you are into patchwork and quilting, why would you even be thinking that there is an alternative meaning to the word ‘sewer’…??), and it is something that can be completed very quickly, without having to think too much about turning in seams, making it neat (because that has been done already in the tea towel), and also without quilting it. Yes, I know the site is UK QUILTERS United – but I hope a couple of easy to complete unquilted projects will be acceptable – especially as this one is so useful!
This is the story of how the tea towel bag came into being – and the reason for it being needed. Another reason for using tea towels for this project is that they can be bought quite cheaply – and so you don’t have to measure the pieces to start with – you work with the size you have. Many supermarkets have regular sales, and I was lucky enough to pick up the tea towels for this project for about £2.50 (certainly no more than that) – and I even have a tea towel left over!
Postscript – having thought about where to take a photo of these two bags together (somewhere that isn’t cluttered or messy – not easy to find in my house), I realised the many other possibilities for this bag – the side of an office chair (perfect for snacks, odds and ends at retreats), on a stair gate or bannisters (taking things up or down stairs), around the headrest in a car (perfect for toys, games, books, gadgets, snacks for those in the back, and keeps them off the floor). I’d be interested in how many other ways and places you can find to use this bag!
Download Tea Towel Bag Pattern
Versatility is the key word here! Great ideas for one pattern.