Easy car trash bags!

So, I found this great tutorial on the Make it/Love it blog for how to make a car trash bag.  I loved the boning idea, and then just made things up on my own, because I am bad at following directions.

I made my bag fully lined, so it adds a couple extra steps.  If you do not want to line your bag, then start out by making it like I made my gift bags, and hop back here to insert the boning.

First, I cut two large rectangles of fabric and placed them right sides together, stitching up and around the whole outside, leaving a small opening to pull the fabric through.  Then, I turned it out and topstitched, so there would be no raw edges on the final product.

Then I folded the project in half and stitched all the way up two sides.

 Next, I folded down the top about an inch or so.  Then I topstitched to make the casing, all the way around, leaving an opening of about 2-3 inches, so I could insert the boning.

 Then I inserted the boning all the way around the casing.

Once I had the boning in, I cut it to fit and stitched it together.  Now, this is a tricky part.  You have to cut the plastic in your boning shorter than the fabric, so that you can stitch it shut.  DO NOT TRY TO STITCH THE PLASTIC.  YOU WILL BREAK YOUR NEEDLE!  You will have to wiggle the boning out of the casing a little bit, in order to get it up under the needle of your machine.  However, once you are done, you will be able to just slide the boning back in place.

 The last step is to attach a hanger.  You can use any material for this--I chose some parachute cord.  I inserted the cord up into the hole in the casing, and then topstitched it all shut.

 Then, I flipped the cord up, and topstitched it down to the top of the casing.  Again, be mindful of where the boning is--you do not want to stitch on that plastic!

 Once you have the hanger stitched on, you are ready to hang!!!

 Or, lay flat for a glamour shot.  Look how nicely the boning keeps the opening wide open!!!  This is handy when you are driving, because you can just toss stuff in!

 So, I wanted to go take pictures of this in the car, but it was too cold, so you will have to use your imagination a little bit.  The nice thing about using the string for this bag is that you can tie it up to make it shorter or longer, depending on your needs.  So, you can tie it shorter, to slip around your gear shift (or top of your rocking chair, as the case may be).

 Or, you can leave it longer, to fit around the back of your headrest, or glove compartment.  (Or lamp.)

Ta-da!  Now there is no excuse for a messy car!