Congratulations Cuckoobird for being ‘Pod of the Fortnight’ – you’ve made a whopping 7782 morsbags to date, so we asked you these questions:

1) Who is in your pod?

Him’n’me

2) When/where do you sew morsbags?

We usually sew at the dining room table. Normally the two sewing machines are set up and ready to use, with uncut fabric in cupboards and kits in a washing basket by the door. If there’s a handout coming up we aim to make at least 3 morsbags each per day. When the sewing machines are put away (if visitors come for a meal) it seems like a barrier to sewing & takes a little while to get them out and get going again.

3) Where did you first hear about morsbags?

A friend read an article about Pol and morsbags in the Western Morning News in about May / June 2007 and as a result set up Aggie Baggies pod. Aggie Baggies made lots of bags over the next year to eighteen months, but the other members gradually lost interest or had to do other things and I was left, still bagging, on my own. So I started Cuckoobird pod and was a solopodder for a while.

Then Offcuts persuaded me to do the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace (October 2009), but fell downstairs and broke both shoulders, so couldn’t go & it would have been just me and several sewing machines, with no breaks, for 3 or 4 days of a really popular show. So my stalwart husband said “You’d better show me how to make morsbags, then”. I did, and then he showed HUNDREDS of people how to make their own bags at Ally Pally.

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

I did, but to a limited extent. I remember the first time I shopped at Lidl I was amazed and appalled that there were no free bags, and you had to either buy a (pretty good, durable) plastic bag, search the shop for a discarded cardboard box, or pile your shopping back into the trolley, wheel it to your car and load it loose into the boot.Next time we went there we took bags – it wasn’t hard, was it?!

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

Usually we use two Brother machines – they’re great workhorses and simple to use. I took my original one to the sewing machine centre to be overhauled after I’d had it a few years & the engineer asked if I sewed professionally! I guess it showed signs of wear. My OH is a “born engineer” and can mend almost any machinery and get it to work. He overhauls the machines from time to time.

We also have a collection of hand crank sewing machines, I’ve never paid more than £10 for one and some were given to us. I think we have eight hand cranks plus a large treadle machine that lives in the hall. Handcranks are great for sewing outdoors, or where there is no electric supply (think fetes and shows in fields) and for children to help make a bag as they’re nice and slow and controllable.

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

HE says his first one was “Blue, Skopos, lop-sided“, I’ve forgotten mine…

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

Lots of pieces that someone else had cut out to make a patchwork project and then abandoned. There were some great “car” motifs.

8) Who was your first bagging victim?

Lost in the mists of time……

9) What’s been your finest morsbag moment?

I really enjoyed all the shows we did where we get to help Mr & Mrs Public make their own bags. Of those, I guess I enjoyed Clarence House (UK Aware 2010) and Kew Gardens (UK Aware 2011) most. All those people, keen to get their hands on some royal curtain fabric to make their bags, and the camaraderie with the other morsbaggers helping too. Such fun!!

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

I would like to bag the Swedish engineer Sten Gustaf Thulin. According to Wikipedia – (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shopping_bag) “In the early 1960s, Thulin developed a method of forming a simple one-piece bag by folding, welding and die-cutting a flat tube of plastic for the packaging company Celloplast of Norrköping, Sweden. Thulin’s design produced a simple, strong bag with a high load-carrying capacity, and was patented worldwide by Celloplast in 1965.”

So I’d take him a morsbag (maybe in light blue and yellow, Sweden’s national flag’s colours) and say, “Sten Gustav, sweetie, I know you haven’t really thought about all this, and the possible repercussions from the way you’re heading right now….” and distract him! MAYBE it would work 😀

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.