Congratulations Butterfly Bags for being ‘Pod of the Month’ – you’ve made a fab 520 morsbags to date, so we asked you these questions:

1) Who is in your pod?

It is basically me. I  have a few friends who come to visit sometimes and make bags whilst we drink tea and chat. Also, 5 (out of the 6) of my children have made at least 1 bag each. I will get the youngest one sewing soon.

2) When/where do you sew morsbags?

I am lucky enough to have a sewing room at home so most of my sewing is done there. As I live in Leicester, I go to our fabulous morsroom most weeks and help out at events.

3) Where did you first hear about morsbags?

I first heard about morsbags when there was an event at our local Environment Centre. I didn’t actually go to the event but looked at the morsbags website and made one at home. When I saw there was going to be another event at the Environment Centre, I went along. We still have events there now.

4) Did you think about your use of plastic bags before?

I didn’t really give plastic bags much thought before. I think I did try and use bags for life but it wasn’t something I felt that strongly about until I discovered morsbags and read up on it.

5) What type of sewing machine/s do you use?

I use a Brother sewing machine. It is the same as the ones that we use in Leicester for our events. I also have a beautiful old Singer treadle machine that belonged to my husband’s grandmother but I’ve never actually sewn with it.

6) Please give 3 adjectives to describe your first morsbag.

My first morsbag was wonky, functional and inspiring!

7) What was the most unusual or satisfying thing you’ve made a morsbag out of?

The most satisfying thing I’ve made a morsbag from was my oldest son’s old space print curtains. I made him the curtains when he was about 6 (he is now 17). I recently used them to make small morsbags for my youngest son’s party bags. Giving all the children at the party little morsbag made all the Mums ask about them and I bagged them too!

8) Who was your first bagging victim?

My first bagging victim was my Mum.

9) What’s been your finest morsbag moment?

I would like to confess about my morsbag diary. I am not a particularly organised person but from day 1, I have kept a list of every morsbag I have made. I know when, where and what fabric it was made from and who (or what event) I gave it to.  It may seem a little obsessive but I’m really glad i have kept this record.

I’m very proud to be part of the morsbag family. We are very fortunate in Leicestershire that we have Rosie (Offcuts) who is so passionate about the cause that she motivates, organises and encourages so many morsbag events and opportunities. I have met and become friends with people that I wouldn’t have met if it wasn’t for morsbags. I love going to events, taking part in handouts and spreading the morsbag word.

Congratulations Mac bags for being ‘Pod of the Fortnight’ – you’ve made 2156 morsbags to date, so we asked you these questions:

1) Who is in your pod?

Sue, Caroline, Anne, Carla, Olive, Jennifer, Cath, Veronica, Carol, Jacqui, Pat, Wendy and Allison who does the ironing. Let’s not forget our teaboy, Mike… We find making morsbags in a group more satisfying as we can chat and exchange ideas – even if we can make them faster on our own!

2) When/where do you sew morsbags?

Mostly we make morsbags in our own homes but we meet on Wednesday once a month at Sue’s house. Also on various occasions we meet up at either Jacqui’s or Wendy’s houses on a Saturday for those who go to work. Early on we realised that alcohol and trying to sew a straight line does not work….shame!

3) Where did you first hear about morsbags?

Wendy’s son Bernie (Bernies bags pod) was staying with her for 15 months and persuaded us to start a pod with members of Marden Arts and Crafts Society.

4) Did you think about your use of plastic bags before?

Yes, we did, but not to the degree of helping to do something practical about it. Some of us used the strong hessian bags, others loaded the shopping straight into the car, but the plastic bags were there so they got used, but not anymore!

5) What type of sewing machine/s do you use?

Our machines range from a Bernina, Singer, and Toyota Super Jeans to a very basic Janome.

6) Please give 3 adjectives to describe your first morsbag.

Satisfying, colourful and we were pleased.

7) What was the most unusual or satisfying thing you’ve made a morsbag out of?

We find all the bags satisfying to make because we are lucky enough to be given fabric that would have normally gone to landfill. However, making a bag out of material donated by someone who has previously been bagged with one of our morsbags is great. We’ve also appliquéd shapes onto plain bags to use up odds and ends of fabric and printed paw prints onto them for a dog show.

8) Who was your first bagging victim?

We put the local community guide booklet into bags for the distributors to deliver around the village (16 bags)

We have also made special shaped ‘bottle bags’ & ‘baguette bags’ which have gone to France.

9) What’s been your finest morsbag moment?

We enjoyed handing out morsbags at a residential home where they were immediately put to use by residents as the ‘veg van’ arrived…

In general we love the look of astonishment when people find out that morsbags are free!

Our best moment though was celebrating our 2000th morsbag with the fantastic cake made by Sue. These 2000 bags have been handed out to people in this area and there are still people who say “What are Morsbags?” So, lots more bags to make.

10) Who would you like to guerilla bag most? (dead or alive)

Eric Clapton and ANY person at the checkout who uses a plastic bag for only a couple of items.

11) Future plans for your pod?

We are looking forward to the party for our 3000^th bag and will continue to visit small groups to show them how to make their own morsbags.