More loo bags!

Given all the current (Covid-19) focus on hand washing, I was even more pleased than usual of having a loo bag (or two) in Elmer during our weekend trip! 

Although soap was supplied in the public loos I used while away, it's more usual that we need to BYO.

I've posted of my loo bags before.  These pics are of some others I made.  Nissa's (bottom left) was the prototype - pictured here with other items in her new car kit, including a rubbish bag. 

Di's colleagues liked hers so much that I made one specially to live at their ambulance station, for the paramedics to take on their traveling shifts (bottom right).

The pelican loo bag is a more recent creation and now lives in New Zealand with Kerry!  It's slightly larger because I've found it works better to house the toilet paper in a recycled plastic container.  The bags dry quickly if they are plonked on a wet patch at the hand basin.  The paper rolls don't fare so well!  I've used Staminade containers for my bags, which only just fit. I've also used slightly bigger, protein power, containers for more recent bags - and adjusted the sizing to accommodate the extra volume. 

Sew civilised!

I used my apple print loo bag for the first time the other day.  It worked very well (!), which then prompted me to make two more - for using when out and about in Elmer.

I'd already bought the "red dust" face cloths and had lizard print fabric in the stash.  I think it was originally intended for Vaughan but he's a bit old for it now.

The bright frogs were a more recent purchase. I bought the last available fat quarter, which meant a contrast strip was needed to create the loo bag.

My new frog and lizard kits had their first trip yesterday, though the frogs were the day's pick.

I'd also crafted a new picnic table cloth with the remaining lizard print and a bargain remnant of spotty lime green fabric.  It was super cheery for our al fresco dining and toned nicely with our picnic set.

The feather print bag in the top collage is for Di's new camping kettle.  It's a spouted billy design, so a little different to ours  - and I made this bag bigger to easily accommodate the larger spout.

Di bought a small feather dream-catcher for her new truck. As I had feather fabric in the stash, it was used for a loo bag and also featured on another bag, which holds a soft feather motif blanket. (The kettle bag uses a different feather print, which Erin cleverly spotted in a remnant bin).

Di refers to her hand-wash kit as a dunny bag which has caught on here, though we tend to use the friendlier term - DB!

Bags the loo!

Last September I made a bag for our picnic kettle.  I really liked how it turned out and have used the same method to make various other bags since - one for a pair of billies, one for shoe-cleaning equipment and now several dubbed "new car kits".

What's a new car kit? When I wanted to give gifts to all the new car owners in our family, I chose to make something practical.

I've kept a hand-towel, small soap and loo paper in Elmer for quite a few years. When we were still in Victoria, I trialed a different storage method for those items.  It worked for a while but I'm sure my new system is better.

The minion and apple drawstring bags each hold a roll of toilet paper, small hand towel (well, technically it's a large face washer) and soap. Erin's minion set has a small pack of tissues but she may choose to stash them elsewhere. I'll probably include a little bottle of hand sanitiser in the bags as well. We've visited a lot of public toilets over the years. They vary greatly in terms of quality, so we carry our own supplies. Generally soap and hand towel are enough but sometimes we do need to take loo paper. (If we are particularly well stocked, we are happy to leave a roll in the cubicle - cos we're a generous bunch)!

From time to time there isn't water available at the public conveniences, so we wash hands back at the car - cos we carry water with us, even on day-trips.  If all else fails, we use hand sanitiser!