How to Make Your Own Produce Bags

Hello everyone!

Mark and I have been talking about alternatives for plastic produce bags in the grocery store for several months.  We’ve been bringing reusable bags to carry our groceries out to the car, but still ended up with a wad of plastic from our fresh produce.  We know buying packaged cloth bags is one option, but that means buying more “stuff”, and we are more interested in finding ways to inventively use all the stuff we already have.  About a week ago, we scoured around in Mark’s grandfather’s storage area and found a huge bin of family linens.  Cloth napkins, cloth kitchen towels, and even tablecloths.  We hit the jackpot!  Not only did this mean that we had more towels and cloth napkins to use, but we also came up with the brilliant idea of turning some of the kitchen towels into produce bags!  They are the thin cotton kind, and they have beautiful colors and patterns.  We’ve received many compliments and several people requested a tutorial on how to make their own, so here it is.  Our method involves sewing and takes about 7 minutes with a sewing machine.  Method #2 (at the bottom of this post) does not involve sewing.

Method #1

(Sewing Involved)

(Time: 7 to 10 minutes per bag)

Step 1:  Gather materials.

To make this project super green, use fabric or towels you already have around your house.  Look around, I’m sure you have something.  Maybe some curtains you’ll never use or an old sheet?  You’ll also need twine, rope, ribbon, or something to use for the tie at the top (ha! you could use old ties!).  We used some old synthetic rope we had in the toolbox.

Step 2:  Cut and/or fold your fabric.

Cut fabric to whatever size you want (if needed…our towels were already a great size.  We also used some cloth napkins for smaller bags).  Fold it in half, right sides together.  Sew up one side all the way to the top.  Sew up the other side to within 1 or 2 inches of the top (depending on the thickness of your tie material).

Step 3: Fold top down and sew

Place your tie along the top of the bag and fold down the fabric enough to cover the tie and leave room for sewing all the way around.  For our tie, which is about 1cm thick, we folded the top down 3cm.  Just make sure there is enough room so you don’t accidentally sew the tie to the bag.  You could thread the tie through once you’re done sewing the loop in the top, but that takes a lot more time and is more of a hassle, in my opinion.

Step 4: Finishing touches

We cut our rope and tied them together in a knot to prevent them from ever sliding back into the hole.  Our rope was made with plastic, so we lightly burned the edges to prevent fraying.  The lighter melted the threads together.  Flip your bag right-side out, and admire!

We used these for produce and bulk bin items.  We used the smaller bags for spices and grains.  Flour sifted through our bags, but sugar was fine.

Method #2

This method is easier if you don’t have a sewing machine.  Gather your old cotton tank tops or buy some inexpensively from your local second-hand/thrift store.  The sleeves of the tank top are now the handles of your bag.  Here are 3 different ways you can seal the bottom of your bag:

1.  Turn your tank inside-out and hand sew one line of stitching along the bottom of the fabric.  If you don’t want to sew, use safety pins instead.  Flip it right-side out and admire your handiwork.

2.  Grab the bottom corners of the tank and tie them together into a knot.  Easy peasy.

3.  Cut the bottom of the tank into 1 inch wide by 4-6 inches tall vertical strips.  Tie each front strip into a knot with it’s complimentary back strip. Bags made with this method are best for larger produce items, because smaller items will slip through the holes.

Check out this video of Ame Guzeman making 5 bags from one t-shirt at the Alameda Farmer’s Market (and thanks to FakePlasticFish.com for pointing out this link).

I’m sure there are a million different creative ways to make your own bags with materials you already have.  Please tell us about your creations by posting a comment below so we can all benefit.

Update: On 4/14/2010, I posted an article called The Reusable Bag Jackpot!!! with over 33 patterns and instructions for making your own reusable grocery bags, produce bags, totes, and more.