BOOMERANG BAGS REDLAND CITY

Every year around 50% of the plastic shopping bags we use end up buried in landfill. While a small portion are recycled or repurposed the remainder are unaccounted for—lost in our environment where they ultimately wash out to sea through drains and waterways. Sadly, much of the marine life that lands on your dinner plate is likely to have consumed plastic!

Boomerang Bags are changing all this!

Founded on the Gold Coast, Boomerang bags is global movement of volunteer groups whose dream is to reduce the use of plastic bags worldwide. Each group around Australia and the world works tirelessly to sew and recycle pre-loved textiles into fun, reusable fabric bags—which communities can use as a free, sustainable alternative to plastic shopping bags!

Join the movement in this month’s sewalong!

This month we’re calling for your help make to the Boomerang Bags dream a reality! By sewing one or more bags from material you already own you can help Boomerang Bags Redland City reach their goal to distribute 250 sustainable bags at their community’s upcoming green expo.

Sewing as many bags as we can this month will not only help at the expo but continue to help Boomerang Bags reduce plastic bag use throughout the year.

SEWALONG BRIEF

Download the Boomerang Bags Echidna Sewalong Pattern (PDF) and embroidery file (ZIP).

Use material you already own to create the bag from the pattern. You can use anything from curtains to pre-loved clothing and scrap material as long as it’s clean and in good condition. When cutting out the pocket, use a pale/light-coloured material. This will contrast with the red Boomerang Bags logo which will be displayed on the pocket.

Logo & pocket options

Embroider the logo yourself

Download the logo embroidery file. Use Hemingworth thread in Christmas Red, Candy Apple or Pomegranate (or similar thread colour) and embroider the Boomerang Bags logo file onto the pocket. Then sew the pocket onto the bag as shown in the pattern.

OR

Leave the pocket blank and unsewn

Cut out the the pocket from a plain, light-coloured material, but leave it blank. Sew the bag, but DON’T sew on the pocket. Instead, send the blank pocket in with your bag, unattached. Boomerang Bags will screenprint their logo onto the pocket and sew it onto the bag once printed.

Creative options

Make a patchwork style Boomerang Bag. You can even use spare pieces of material you’d usually throw away. Leave a 1cm seam where you join any patches and check that any joins and stitching are sturdy and will wear well. Don’t forget to save your scrap pieces up and make a patchwork bag later in the year.

SENDING IN YOUR DONATIONS

Send your completed bags in to Boomerang Bags Redland City by 14 March 2018. Be sure to include your name, postal address and contact details with your donation.

Boomerang Bags Redland City
Sharr Ellson
23 Sylvie Street
Thornlands Qld  4164

OR

Drop your bags into your local Echidna store and we’ll send them on to Boomerang Bags.

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO CREATE THE PROJECT?

The Boomerang Bags Sewalong will run from 1–28 February, 2018. The charity is always in need of bags so you can also sew and donate bags and fabric all year long.

PRIZES

We’ll be giving away a number of Universal Magazine prizes later in the year. To enter, simply take a photo of your finished project and post it to our Echidna Sewing facebook community! We’ll also be giving away a number of prizes at random throughout the year, and your Sewalong project is eligible for one of these prizes no matter which month it’s sent in.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

Sewalongs are a great way to get inspired by what everyone creates, while giving to a worthy cause. If you’re new to sewing and embroidery this is a great chance to get involved and have fun no matter what the outcome. Any excuse to put your sewing and embroidery machines to good use is a great one.

SEWALONG BADGES

If you have your own sewing/embroidery blog you can save the following badges and post it on your blog entry, linking back to this page.

MORE INFORMATION

• Echidna Sewing facebook community – get inspired and share your creation with our online community.
• Past charity sewalongs – try your hand at some of our past projects.
• Suggest a charity –  Tell us about a charity you’d like to see in our monthly sewalong.