The Story
It’s Saturday. The weather is amazing and sunny. The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and I have a pile of laundry 5ft high that needs washing. Just what I want to do on a day like this! But it’s a nice day outside and I can just hang my laundry out to dry.
I start my laundry, load one,… I take it outside and start hanging it. Of course, by now the wind has picked up. When I come back later with load two the first load of hanging laundry is laying on the fresh cut grass… of course it is….
So, off I go looking for my clothes pins to keep everything stables. They reside in the same plastic bag that I purchased them in. Picture as plastic bag with several holes, no visible top or bottom, pins falling out in all directions when you pick it up, but somehow with all the holes in the bag, moisture will not escape so they are also sopping wet.
I take them outside, losing half of them on the way… and try to attach them to my clothes. But of course, they are falling all over the ground, I have nowhere to place them so they are handy… so the struggle continues… or as I like to say, the struggle is real.
After getting the first load of laundry fixed, finish hanging the second and third loads I decided this just wasn’t going to work. Especially since the summer just started! More laundry will dry outside!
How to Make a Clothes Pin Bag
I know, I know, this sounds ludicrous! Who needs a Clothes Pin Bag? Why not just use an old shopping bag, the bag they came in, an old container, you name it?!?!?! Or easier yet, why not just buy one from the store? But clothes pins will rust in plastic bags, and the wood ones will also swell… so if you’re like me and you hang your clothes outside to dry in the summer, clothes pins are needed.
As you know I don’t like wasting money and if I can make it myself I will try.
What You Need:
- Clothes pins
- An old shirt – I use this instead of new/old material b/c it hangs well on hangers, and I have an abundance of old shirts.
- A sewing machine or needle and thread. Although a sewing machine is much faster!
- A coat hanger – I used metal but plastic will also do.
Let's Begin!
Prep the Shirt
- Ok, take your old t-shirt and flip it inside out.
- Mark the shirt to show where you will need to sew it. As this isn’t a precision job, I just use an old bar of soap to mark the lines I need. But if you want it to look fancy, you can use pins to mark the lines.
Take note not to mark your lines all the way to the top of the sleeves as you need to leave space for the hanger to go through.
Sew the Shirt
3. Sew the shirt closed along the lines you have created. Again, don’t sew to the top of the sleeves.
4. At the 2 bottom corners of the bag, open the shirt and fold it so that you can sew across the edge. This will force the bottom of the bag to stay open, making it easier to access the pins.
You will notice the vertical black stitching coming across the white horizontal stitching in the pic on the right.
5. Cut all the surplus material off, including the excess triangle from step 4 above.
6. Insert coat hanger to check if it has enough room to go through the top of the sleeves. In my case there was too much space so I marked it with pin and did another pass with the sewing machine.
7. Flip shirt right side out and insert coat hanger and clothes pins.
And That's It! You're Done!
