Sewing: Soap Bar Scrubber Pouch

Soap Bar Scrubber Pouch is what I call this thing that I made. It's what I thought of to make so that my six year old boy would stop creating claw marks on my soap bars when he used it. At first I thought he was playing with the soap bar, it didn't occur to me that he was just trying to find a way to hold on to the bar when it was slippery wet. He was also overwhelmed by the size of using our scrub towel in the shower. Necessity IS the mother of invention so I got to thinking, started sewing, and this is what I came up with.

BTW: I much prefer using a soap bar than liquid shower gels on myself & on my older kids. It's cheaper, lasts longer & the kids can't pour half a bottle of liquid soap down the drain each time they take their showers.

So here's my tutorial on how to make this Soap Bar Scrubber Pouch:
You will need:
           Sewing machine w/ coordinating thread 
           Scissors
           Scrap ribbon, about 6 inches long
           Long scrub towel (I used the Salux brand cloth, found in most Asian stores, Filipino friends,
                                          you know it well.)

I took the long towel, folded it into thirds, and cut along the fold lines. You will get three equal parts.

All photos can be clicked on to see a larger view.

Working with one of the pieces, I folded it in half lengthwise, sewed up two of the open sides (I used a zig-zag stitch), turned the fabric inside out, then sewed the last side closed.

Don't forget to back stitch the beginning & ending of your stitches. Since this item will be used and washed a lot, you'll want to make sure that the stitches are really secure.

Lay the fabric down with the long side towards you and fold one side in towards the middle about an inch or so. Then fold the opposite end in towards the fold you had made. It will overlap onto the one inch flap.

  

Now is the time to pin your scrap piece of ribbon into position. It'll lay right under the one inch fold and place it sticking out a bit so you don't miss stitching it.  Add more pins to hold the sides & sew the sides closed.

Once you have sewn the two sides closed you will turn your pouch right side out (take care to really push your corner points out. Use a pencil if you have to.) If you did it right, it'll look like this:

Take your finished pouch to the bathroom, insert a bar of soap and hang.


Alrighty y'all I hope I made this tutorial easy enough for you to follow. Feel free to leave me a comment of encouragement. I am not confident in my blogging tutorial ability.

Fresh from the garden: Chicken Salad Recipe

 

I love chicken salad on a soft buttery roll. It's so easy to make & it's one of those recipes that allow you to substitute a few of the ingredients with what you have on hand and the outcome will be delicious every time. To me, Chicken Salad is like Fried Rice, it helps you use up what you already have. Basically my chicken salad consists of chicken, a crunchy vegetable, a sweet fruit, nuts, and binding like mayo.
For the chicken I prefer using boneless skinless chicken breast, coated in olive oil, & house seasoning, then grilled. It depends on my mood how fine I want my chicken meat cut up, some days I like it diced into little squares, on other days I like it very finely chopped. You can achieve the finely chopped in a food processor but it's just as easy to do with a very sharp knife. I prefer to just use a knife, but you really have to have a good sharp knife. I'll list the ingredients I used today & in parentheses the substitutes I use on occasion.


Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast: Finely Chopped or (Small Diced)
Crunchy Vegetable: Sweet Banana Pepper or (Celery, Any color Bell Pepper, cucumber, jicama)
Sweet Fruit: Dried Cranberries or (fresh grapes, raisins, fresh apples, dried apricots, mango, nectarine)
Nuts: Slivered Almonds or (chopped walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecan, pine nuts, or sunflower seeds)
Binding: Mayonnaise or (miracle whip dressing, ranch dressing, plain yogurt)
House seasoning to taste or (salt & pepper)

Mix it all up & assemble sandwich...I used thinly sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and some basil leaves from the garden to finish off my sandwich. The basil really made this sandwich pop. Ate it up with some of the blueberries we picked last week.