Guest post by Janet Wertz

I learned to make button bags after I had to put my father into a nursing home.  Sometimes he was left in the commons area with no way to bring something to do with him. Angry at being so helpless, he demanded I find a solution to his problem.

I took a couple of canvas bags I’d bought at a craft shop and cut the handles. The result could be placed around the front bar of a walker or around the arm rest supports of the wheelchair or even around its push handles. I just needed a way to put the handles back together. A button on one of the cut ends and a button hole on the other end was an obvious solution.

The bags I made for Dad gave him a place to put his Kindle reader, puzzle book and pencil, the newspaper, and whatever else he decided to take with him. I made him another for the bed rail so he had his glasses, cell phone, etc. within easy reach. Now he didn’t have to ask someone to pass him things he couldn’t get to.

Caregivers can purchase canvas cloth bags at a craft store. Rather than cutting the handle at the very top, which means the button is always in the way, cut it so the short end will be about 4 to 5 inches long. Cut the other handle so the long and short lengths will alternate. To prevent the cut ends from fraying, either whip over them with needle and thread or zigzag using a sewing machine. The short lengths get ¾ in buttons; the longer pieces get button holes. Now the handles can be buttoned together going either the length of the bag—the way they did before they were cut—or over the width of the bag. They’re also great for bed rails, power chairs, or any place else the bag is needed.

I decorate my bags using either iron-on appliques, which I usually have to stitch down as well, or an iron-on embroidery pattern on a white or muslin colored bag, which I then go over with colorful embroidery pens. A sports emblem might be used, perhaps cut from a tee-shirt. Or have a child draw on the bag for the family member using the embroidery pens available from most craft stores. What grandparent wouldn’t want a bag decorated by a grandchild? They cost me about $10 to make, a bit more if appliques are used, but they are priceless to the ones using them.

The only problem I’ve encountered is that other people in rehab have tried to buy one from the person I gave it to. So far, nobody has sold theirs!

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life,
by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
James 3:13 NIV

Janet Wertz retired to take care of her elderly father who was losing his mobility. By trial and error, she learned how to care for her dad with the counsel of older friends. Necessity caused her to learn how to make these handy Button Bags. Now she feels it’s her turn to share something she learned.

Tracy Crump dispenses hope in her award-winning book, Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness (CrossLink Publishing, 2021). A former intensive care nurse, she cared for her parents and her mother-in-law and understands both the burdens and joys of caregiving. Her devotions have been featured in Guideposts books, The Upper Room, and many other publications, and she has contributed 25 stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul® books. She also conducts writing workshops, produces a newsletter for writers, and does freelance editing. But her most important job is Grandma to five completely unspoiled grandchildren.