Sew 4 grocery bags - PEP BB textile.straw.sew.grocery

I made five lined grocery shopping bags for this BB. The materials were mostly sourced from thrift stores: belts recycled to be handles and a 54×70" canvas consisting of the main bodies of the bags. I used scraps of matching canvas and quilting cotton for visual interests. Total cost was less than $5. Finished bags were sprayed with fabric protector.

I thought the fabric protector is made of silicone, which is not natural btw. it says fluorourethane on the bottle. So it's a kind of PU, or vegan leather, a replacement to genuin leather.

I made the bags for charity so I tried my best to make them durable and maintainance free. I am doing another batch of 5 and will make sure to meet the requirement next time.

Yet I still want to protect the areas that soil easily,  what is the alternative? Wax? And more specifically, bee wax not candle wax?

May Lotito wrote:...
Yet I still want to protect the areas that soil easily,  what is the alternative? Wax? And more specifically, bee wax not candle wax?

Hi May. Better not use wax for protection of a bag. I have experience with the waxed clothes (used instead of plastic for packing bread, sandwiches) it will start looking dirty after a few weeks of use.
In my opinion the best shopping bag is one that's machine washable.

Inge, you are right.  I guess i don't have to worry about the prestine look as people would just toss the bag in the washer right away because of covid19.

I hope this bag counts too. It is a Project Bag, not a Grocery Bag.
Three other bags will follow. And then I'll submit for the BB


Outside material: linen from Ireland (it was a cloth with a picture of a dog)


As you see; pure linen


The large cones of cotton thread do no fit on my sewing machine. So I made two spools with it.


Sewing in progress


Inside (lining) material: cotton from an old duvet cover


The drawstrings I braided out of a cotton-linen crochet yarn


One bag finished! My crochet project is now in it.

No, my Project Bag doesn't count ... it doesn't have handles.
Next time I'll send photos of four shopping bags with handles (and showing the measurements too).

A friend gave me some dated cotton curtains (1980's is my guess) because he figured he'd never use them and didn't want to store the fabric any longer. I dismantled them, washed and shrank them and decided that they'd make cheery shopping bags.
The first picture shows the crappy non-biodegradable bag I used as my model. Narrower, "rectangular prism" shaped bags are easier on my hands than wide, narrow bags, so that's what I made. The "edging" material is scrap from an old linen tablecloth. I actually made 6, as I figured that 2 would be claimed by others (the drapery donor and the handle material donor.)
I hadn't figured out the handles at the time of the first picture, as I thought I'd have enough of the drapes, but alas, no, but a different friend had given me a heavy cotton sweat-shirt with holes and a rusty zipper (a picture of that will show up in the "fabric salvage" BB) and it is sturdy and soft and will be very comfortable in my hand.

The second picture shows the first 4 completed bags. I forgot to add a tape measure, but I can take another picture if the sofa isn't sufficient as scale. A front and side added together is 18" as is the front and 1/2 the base, so they meet the requirement, but just by using panels.

Fabric to complete 4 bags


The progress of sewing.


4 completed bags.


Edit: Two are right side out, two show the inside with pocket.

Now I made the four required shopping bags.

I used old towels and a table-cloth (100% cotton) as fabric.


There were some small holes, which I did repair.


Sewing work in progress.


Four bags, each measuring 30x30 cm, that's the same as 12x12 inches. With handles.

I made 4 bags. These are first going to be Christmas gift bags All 4 bags are fully lined. I didn't like how the first Harry Potter bag came out so I swapped my initial fabric for the second to grey pants fabric.