Calling all sewers your NHS needs you.

Good morning lovely blog land friends and how are you on this fine sunny morning.  I bet you're wondering why I am showing you a pile of washing on my kitchen table.  Well its not my ironing pile but it is a pile of duvet and pillow cases that have not been on a bed for at least five years and they are going to be turned into something much more worthwhile and in our current situation much needed. 

I was recently reading a post on John Scotts Sewing World face book page. His friend Dulcie has set up a campaign to make scrubs for NHS front line staff. I can't make a pair of scrubs my skills are not that advanced but the next bit of his post also caught my eye.  Not all hospitals have laundry facilities so the medical staff have to take their scrubs home to wash. At the moment they are given a plastic bag to take them home in, they then wash the scrubs and throw away the plastic bag (not very green and also full of germs) Dulcie and her team have come up with a solution. Draw string bags made from cotton so at their end of the shift the exhausted medics put the scrubs in the bag, go home and throw the scrubs and the bag into the washing machine.

So John Scott has put a call out to the sewers out there to please have a look through your stash and make some drawstring bags. All you need is half a metre of washable fabric, some cotton tape/ribbon and your sewing machine and the yearning to help our NHS. A simple draw string bag as big as you can make it out of the half metre of fabric , with a double sided draw string, ie 2 pieces of tape to be able to pull from both sides . The seams must be well finished off (overlocked, French seams or zig zagged then stitched to one side as they are going to be going through a hot wash every day) Dulcie does a boxed bottom (sugar bag bottom to some) on hers but this is totally optional.

So  I thought I would share this with you here on my little blog space so that if any of you fancy helping out then you can get sewing! there is no panic, no rush just as and when you can'

John Scott has agreed to coordinate the receipt of any bags made and they can be sent to him at

 John Scott’s Sewing World. PO BOX 6688. Stratford Upon Avon CV37 1TZ

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Now I am very new to sewing and don't have much of a stash or any real idea what are the best types of fabrics and for what use. But what I do have is a stash of old duvets that have been through the wash many times and lived to tell the tale and will therefore make fantastic draw string bags and I've managed to make 16 bags out of a king size duvet cover and pillow cases.

My bags are coming out measuring approximately 16 x 22 inches which is quite a miracle that they are coming out around the same size on each one as I am using a pillow case as my template for width but just a little shorter in height and just like my mother used to do I am cutting by eye so just goes to show that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree and her genes are definitely coming out at the moment. 

I have recently learnt French seams, or as my friend and I like to call them French Sean's as predictive text kept changing it when we were setting up a time to meet for her to teach me and she also taught me a boxed bottom or sugar bag bottom .  This of course was before we started living in an episode of Stepford Wive.

John Scott has made a how to video on his facebook page which you can find here  if you need any help. 

I wouldn't normally share a video or photograph of me on any social media but this was my first attempt at making a draw string bag that pulls together from both sides but I was rather chuffed with my first attempt and thought I would share it with you to show that if a novice like me can do it anyone can and its for such a great reason.

Now if like me you are already involved with a local hospital you may find that they would be grateful  to be the recipients of any bags you make and John Scott and Dulcie are more than happy for you to cut out the middle man so to speak and send them direct to your local hospital. My hospital has a local fb support page for its staff and there have already been posts popping up about these bags and the need for them. Now some are making them out of their stash fabrics Batman and Pepper Pig have been on offer this week but to be honest it doesn't have to be anything fancy.I have already had consultants and nurses at my own department asking about them so my first batch which are currently drying out on the line, will be going into work with me next week and all I have asked of them in return apart from staying safe is that if they have any old duvets lurking about in cupboards, doesn't matter whether they are Thomas the Tank Engine from when their son was three or something quite plain to something with the craziest pattern, if they are no longer needed then I can make use of them to make more bags which in turn means I can help more of our colleagues.

Ok think that's all from me for now. Take care, stay safe and if you can stay home.

Lots of love to you all 

Mx