Friday, September 25, 2015

Helping the Homeless

Following along the National Sewing Month’s theme, Sew for the Charity of it! I thought about making something to help the homeless. A bag of some sort, I considered the…

š  Drawstring bag – but then the individual would have to carry it by the drawstrings and the weight may get burdensome on their arm, or their hands may need to carry something else.

š  One strap backpack – but mine have had a tendency to fall off the shoulder when bending down, or while simply walking around (I’m so graceful!).

š  Messenger style bag – several options to carry this type of bag!

I’ll make the messenger style! I won’t make it quite as fancy as I have before, just simply functional and as tear resistant as possible.

A bag I made a few years ago:




Rather than reinventing the wheel, there are numerous free patterns available across the Internet to follow when making a messenger bag!

In her roundup of “30 of the best free messenger bag patterns” – I do like what Deby of So Sew Easy said: “…mix and match your favorite features” and make it your own with the features you need! Sew true!

MMMMCrafts shared the “basic messenger bag” pattern that does not have gussets. This is the style I’ve made before – it’s quick and relatively easy!

I’ll share tomorrow how I made a quick messenger bag… something you may also like to do!

But then, I did an online search – once I create the bag, what should I put inside? What items do homeless people need?

Overwhelmingly I found: SOCKS (and more socks!)

What else? Some ideas I found:

zip lock baggies
bottle water (even if it’s not cold, wet is good!)
pedilite
            soft food/protein bars
            gold fish crackers
            toothbrush/paste
            soap
            hand wipes – individual packets
            Band-Aids
            Tissues
            Nail clippers
            Deodorant
            Shampoo
            chapstick
            hand lotion
            mylar blanket
            poncho
            gloves (winter time)
            Neck scarf (winter time)
            Folding hat (all year round)
            Wash cloth (sew Velcro loop to hang outside bag to dry)
                        Plastic shopping sacks to hold trash, extra storage, etc


A few sites I visited during my search for bag content:



(Here you will find interesting comments,
some firsthand from those who have been homeless)

What would you put inside a messenger bag
to help the homeless?

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