Brown Plaid Catheter and Nephrostomy Bag Covers

 This week has been one of flux and change.  Our girls were home doing virtual learning for school (they go back in person on Monday, yay!).  The work being done on our home was wrapped up for now.  With lots of new paint, things are looking brighter and different in our house. 

 Etsy was a little quiet for most of the week which was actually good for me to finish end of year financial statements and do some organization of supplies.  Then, the shop took on more orders and things became busy again.  

 I was able to add some new items to the shop this week.  This is a new fabric that I purchased a while ago but it just took me a while to get to sewing with it.  I receive SO many orders for solid color bag covers that I have to really work to keep my head above water with them.

Nephrostomy Bag Cover for a 600mL drainage bag

 This bag cover has a cross body strap that is available in a 60" or a 72" length.  The strap length is adjustable with metal hardware sewn in.  The top of the bag closes with Velcro and there is a 4" opening at the bottom of the bag that also closes with Velcro. This opening is to help make it easier to drain the bag without having to take it out of the cover.  

 This size bag cover does have an optional outside pocket which measure approx. 8" tall by the width of the bag that is available for $3 using this link: Outside Pocket 

 The pocket would be the same fabric as the bag. A 22" tubing cover is also available at checkout for $10.  If you should need a custom sized tubing cover, just send me an Etsy message before ordering to make arrangements.

Cross Body Catheter Bag Cover for a 2000mL Drainage Bag

 This larger bag has many of the same features as the nephrostomy bag cover.  It has openings at the top and bottom of the bag that close with Velcro.  It also has a cross body strap that is 72" and is fully adjustable with metal hardware.  If a longer strap is needed (84") for larger and taller builds, just message me before ordering to make sure that I have the extra fabric to add on.  

 

 The outside pocket is also an option for this bag.  The pocket measure approx. 8"x8" and closes at the top with a small strip of Velcro.  The optional pocket can be purchased for $3 using the link that I posted above.  

A 42" tubing cover in matching fabric is also available at checkout for $16.  

Small Wheelchair/Walker Bag in Atrium Mint Fabric

I have started to make wheelchair/walker bags again!  I have so many different beautiful fabrics and my goal this year is to use them all to make wheelchair/walker totes.  

This is the smaller bag/pouch and it is perfect for holding a cell phone, small wallet, keys, glasses, etc.  The top of the bag is open to make it easy to reach in.  The straps are also adjustable on this bag. I did have one customer buy one for her mom to use on her walker to bring back snacks from the dining room at her living facility after meals.  I also have had some folks buy them for their daughters at college.  Each strap detaches on one end with Velcro so it is easy to loop over the sides slats on the college bunk beds.  College kids can keep their phone, pens, glasses, etc. close by when needed.

If you have any questions about the above items or any of the items listed in my Etsy shop, please feel free to contact me.  That is all for now...hope you have a great weekend!  Stay warm!

A New Fabric Choice and A New Fabric Store to Love

It has been quite a few months since I have posted on the blog. With the start of a new school year for my girls and the start of the holiday season, I thought it would be great time to put some new energy into the blog and begin writing again.

Last week, I drove to New York to visit my parents and to help care for my mom who was being released from a nursing rehab facility. She had surgery in September for colon cancer and wasstill struggling to gain her strength back.  I spent time cleaning and cooking/freezing some meals for them while also keeping them company.  I think my Dad had become lonely in the house by himself the 3-4 weeks she was gone so he enjoyed having someone to tell stories to.

While driving back on Sunday, I decided to stop at the Fancy Gap Pottery and Fabric Outlet in Fancy Gap, VA.  It is conveniently located right off the exit on I-77 and it came at a perfect point in my trip to stop and stretch the legs.

 
This store was more than I had hoped for!  I had never been in the store and wasn't sure what to expect.  They had SO much to look through but I decided (for the sake of time) to focus on cotton prints for quilting and bag making. I did look at the flannel quickly but nothing caught my eye like it did in the quilter's cottons.  The prices were very reasonable and it was hard to not go up to the cutting counter with an armful of bolts!  Many of the fabrics were the same as I had seen online from other retailers and were less expensive at this store.

Here are the prints that I chose. I bought 2-4 yards of all but the glasses print (I only bought one yard).

They had some of the most colorful and fun prints!  I also went to the pottery side of the store and purchased a new top for my birdbath (I had dropped my previous one and it broke into two pieces).  I was actually very excited about that as well as it can be hard to find a store that will only sell you one part of a birdbath and not the whole thing.

This week in my Etsy shop, I have added a new fabric to the catheter bag and nephrostomy bag choices.  I purchased this fabric a while ago along with several others but thought it looked like a fall print and so I saved it until now.  I just love this beige paisley print.

This is a cross body bag cover for 600ml drainage bag or nephrostomy bag. It has a 60" long strap that can be adjusted with the metal hardware.

This is a cross body bag for a 2000ml catheter bag cover and it also comes with a 60" adjustable strap but I do offer to make it longer for those who may be taller or a larger build.  

The rest of this week will be busy with Etsy orders and personal sewing, our dog Mason has his next chemo treatment tomorrow, and our girls have off from school half day tomorrow and full day on Friday.  I will make sure to post some pictures of the personal sewing I am doing as I am having fun with it!

Have a great week!

Favorite Fabric has been Discontinued

While we were in NY visiting family over the holidays, I looked online and realized that the most popular fabric in my shop has been discontinued!  I bought what I could at a store up there but I cannot find it anywhere close to me here in NC.

This is the fabric that I am so sad to see go.

This is such a great fabric with a graphite gray dot color scheme.  It has been the most popular non-solid fabric in my shop for catheter bag, tubing and nephrostomy bag covers. I do have some of this fabric left and can make a couple more items in the shop.  I did write to the company to see if I could get one more bolt but I have not heard back yet.  I will keep everyone posted though!  I hope to bring some new fabrics into the shop that will be just as great.

Tubing Covers

Many folks have questions about how the tubing covers that I make work.  Hopefully this post will help to answer some of those questions but please feel free to message me if you have additional questions or concerns!

I make two different sizes in catheter tubing covers.  The first is for 2000mL drainage bags.  I make these approx. 42" in length.  Your tubing may be a little longer and this is okay.  Most folks don't really want it spanning from edge to edge on the length.  If you do need a much longer size, feel free to contact me and I can always make a custom size for you.

The tubing cover is 42" in length and 3.75" when open and laid flat.  These are designed to wrap around tubing that is approx. 1/2" in diameter.

These tubing covers are held closed by 12 sets of Velcro strips the entire length of the tubing cover.  This makes for easy on and off.

On one end of the tubing cover there is an extra set of Velcro strips.  This is for folks who use a catheter bag cover that also has Velcro at the top.  You can attach this extra set on the tubing cover to the catheter bag cover to help prevent slipping.

 The other end of the tubing cover has a small piece of elastic sewn in that also helps the tube cover from sliding and slipping too much.

Folks are able to just order tubing covers in the shop or they can add them to their order when purchasing a 2000mL catheter bag cover.

The second size tubing covers that I make is a little smaller.  These are made for the 600mL drainage bags or nephrostomy bags.  

Because the tubing varies so much in length for the 600mL drainage bags, I need to make these as custom orders.  If you are ordering a nephrostomy bag cover and wish to add a matching tubing cover, please contact me and we can add one.  

These basically have the same features as the longer tubing covers with the Velcro strips and elastic on one end but these are only about 3" wide when laid flat as they are made to wrap around tubing that is 1/4" in diameter.  I have made these in lengths as short as 12" and as long as 22".  

I hope that helps to explain the tubing covers a little better. It can be hard to capture everything in words and pictures in my Etsy listings.  Please feel free to contact me at sew-inspired@hotmail.com should you have any questions! You can browse the current selection of tubing covers in my shop here: www.sew-inspired.com

Catheter Bag Covers

I wanted to take some time this week and write a little bit about the different style drainage bag covers that I make. I started making these types of items three years ago as a special request for my friend Cathy and since then I have branched out to different types of covers.

This is the drainage bag cover that started it all...the catheter bag cover.  This cover is made for a 2000mL bag so it is one of the larger types of drainage bags.  This is the single strap bag cover and it was meant to hang from a wheelchair, bed rail or a walker (my friend uses it on the back of her
wheelchair).

This bag cover measures 13" wide and is 14.5" tall.  There is hook and loop tape at the bottom and top of the cover which take up some space inside the bag.

The strap opens on one end so it can go over a walker or bed rail.  There are d-rings to fasten and adjust the length of the strap.  The long side of the strap measures approx. 18-19" long.

At the top of the cover, there is a long strip of hook and loop tape (aka Velcro).  This is to keep the top of the bag closed and to help keep the tubing in place.  As you can also see in this picture, the inside of the bag is lined with another cotton fabric for added strength and durability and it is machine washable.  (I can add a PUL fabric liner instead to the bag to help prevent leaks as a custom request in my shop for a small additional charge.)

After I began to make bag covers, I began to get requests for a small opening at the bottom of the cover so that folks could drain their bags without taking the cover off.  Our bag covers now have a 4" opening at the bottom for this purpose.  When not in use, the opening closes with hook and loop tape.

The single strap is maybe about 18" at its longest length.  It is NOT a cross body or shoulder strap (we do carry those in the Etsy shop though).  Before I made the cross body straps, I had folks order the bag covers thinking the strap was long enough to go over the shoulder. This is just a picture to show that it definitely isn't a shoulder strap and to show the proportion of it on my mannequin.

I also offer tubing covers in matching fabric which I will discuss in my next blog post.  Here is a picture of how it works with this style catheter bag cover.  There are small hook and loop tabs at the top to hold it in place at the top of the bag cover.  

I hope that this helps to answer some of the questions about the 2000mL catheter bag covers that are in our shop.  I make each of them as they are ordered and am always looking for new and different fabrics.  I also take custom requests and am happy to look for a particular themed fabric.  

You can see what I currently have available in my Etsy shop at www.sew-inspired.com.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions about this type of bag cover!