The fifth and final week of the Summer Travel Series is here! It’s been a lot of fun making all this travel gear. I hope you have had fun following along and maybe making a thing or two of your own!
Today we talk showers. Up until now I hadn’t needed to worry about bringing shower gear camping with us because we haven’t done more than a night or two of camping at a time. This was new territory for me!
I spent more time than I’d like to admit trying to figure out how to keep things both organized and dry. I just kept imagining having to juggle things from my tote to the shower and placing them on some shelf or worse, the floor, not knowing how clean everything is going to be.
It took some time to puzzle out, but I finally came up with a solution that made me happy.
First I needed something to hold everything so we didn’t have to lug around all sorts of things. For this I made two tote bags. These were sewn with Simplicity pattern 1128, tote B. Because I knew they’d be used with wet stuff I went with some coordinating outdoor fabric.
I used this same type of fabric awhile back to make my Mesh Beach Toy Bag and it’s held up fabulously! That bag has gotten some pretty serious use – we bring it to the beach, to the pool, and to swimming lessons. I know this fabric will handle being wet well.
Each bag holds everything two people need for their shower.
And because shoes in public showers are always a good idea there’s even these awesome mesh pockets for storing flip flops. (A bonus tutorial showing you how to make them is at the end!)
I gotta say I’m pretty jealous that this sweet narwhal design wasn’t available in adult sizes.
Also inside the tote bag are individual mesh shower bags.
We just have to grab our color coordinated bag and it’s ready to go with all the items we need for in the shower!
The convenient handle lets you just hang it on a hook or over the showerhead, keeping everything within reach. And being made from mesh will allow the contents to easily air dry.
The best part is that these mesh bags are super easy to make!
Camp Shower Mesh Bag Tutorial
Supplies:
- Utility mesh: 10″ x 24″
- Fabric suitable for wet environments (I used rip
stop nylon):
- Two 2″ x 14″
- 4″ x 22″
- 1″ webbing: 28″
Step 1
Fold the utility mesh in half so that the 10″ sides are even.
Step 2
Take one of the two 2″ x 14″ pieces of fabric and fold the long way so that the raw edges meet at the center.
Step 3
Fold in half the long way again so that the folded edges are together and the raw edges are hidden inside. Pin.
Step 4
Open up slightly at the short ends and fold approximately ½” to the inside.
Fold back over. The rip stop nylon was slippery, so I found it helpful to pin each side in place to prevent the corners from creeping back out.
Step 5
Matching the fold in the mesh with the fold in the binding, tuck the mesh all the way into the binding and pin in place.
Step 6
Starting at the folds, sew close to the edge of the binding. Trim excess. Repeat steps 2-6 for the other side.
Step 7
Measure exactly from stitching to stitching at the bag opening.
Use this formula to calculate how long our last piece of fabric should be:
(Measurement from stiching to stitching x 2) + 1
So using my example:
Measurement from stitching to stitching = 9⅛”
9⅛” x 2 = 18¼”
18¼” + 1 = 19½”
Cut the 4″ x 22″ down to the size you just calculated.
Step 8
Matching the short ends together, sew a ½” seam. Press seam open. You should now have a loop.
Step 9
Folding in the same way as we did in steps 2-5, match the seam and fold to the middle then fold in half. Pin.
Step 10
Folding in the same direction, repeat step 9 on the opposite side of the loop.
Step 11
Place your fingers inside the loop and gently pull apart. The rest of the loop should fold mostly by itself. Pin in place.
Step 12
Unpin at the seam and center it on one of the mesh sides. Push the mesh all the way into the binding ring.
This first one is a little tricky to get all the way in, but the rest should be easier. Repeat all the way around the ring making sure the side seams both fold in the same direction. Sew.
Step 13
If you haven’t already, flame the end of the webbing to prevent it from fraying. Center the webbing over one of the side seams and sew into place. Repeat for the other side.
Now your mesh bag is complete! And as I promised here’s the bonus tutorial:
Adding A Mesh Pocket to a Tote Bag
This will work with any lined tote! You could add it to a regular tote if you really wished, but the stitching would show through on the outside. I really recommend using a lined tote pattern. There’s tons of free tote tutorials floating around. (If you know a good one feel free to let people know in the comments!) As I said earlier, this is tote B from Simplicity 1128.
You will need:
- Mesh in desired pocket size. It can be as big or as small as you want but it has to be smaller than the finished size of the tote side.
- Double fold binding slightly longer than the total length of all four sides of the pocket
OR
- Fabric 2″ wide by the length of all four pocket sides plus a few inches
Step 1
(If you already have binding made skip to step 2)
We’ll be folding to make the binding exactly as we did in the mesh bag above, steps 2-3. Fold raw edges the long way towards the center. Fold the long way again so that the folded edges are together and the raw edges are hidden inside. Pin.
Step 2
Sew binding along one side of mesh pocket piece. Repeat on opposite side.
Step 3
Fold the short edge over and tuck the mesh pocket into the fold. Repeat on the other end. Sew and repeat for the last side.
Step 4
Pin and sew along the bottom and two sides into desired place on tote lining. Don’t accidentally sew the top shut! Make sure to leave room around the edges for seam allowances.
Now we’re all organized and ready for the showers!
