Reuseable shopping bags
By saundyl
@saundyl (9783)
Canada
December 10, 2009 12:44pm CST
I've found lately that more and more stores are charging 5 to 10 cents per cheapie plastic bag to get your groceries in. Then they turn around and sell the reuseable bags for 1.99 to 3.99 a peice depending on the store and the size of the bag.
The prices of these drive me nuts so I decided to make my own bags. I've made a couple "t-shirt" bags so far and recently decided to make some out of some old blue sheets i have.
I'm trying to be "green" "frugal" and "Cheap"!
I thought i would share the pattern for the t-shirt bags I found and see if anyone has any other neat or easy patterns for bags. (found on marthastewart.com/article/good-thing-t-shirt-bag )
"T-Shirt Bag How-To
1. Turn T-shirt inside out and pin bottom of the T-shirt along the hem. Using a sewing machine, sew bottom of T-shirt closed. Flip shirt right side out and lay flat on table, making sure all seams are lined up.
2. Place medium-size bowl about half-way over the neck hole. Using a water-erasable marking pen, trace along the edge of the bowl. Cut along the outline, making sure to go through the front and back sides of the shirt, in order to create an opening for the bag that's larger than what the neck hole allows.
3. Line up the hems on the front and back side of the sleeve and cut, making sure to go through both sides of the shirt. Repeat on the other sleeve. Tip: A jersey shirt would also work well for this craft, as it is already sleeveless, and it's made of a great mesh material."
1 person likes this
5 responses
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
12 Dec 09
Great idea to make the reusable bags instead of buying them. I feel like grocery stores are getting us coming and going by charging for plastic bags, then selling the reusable ones for a high price.
I may try to make one if I get the time soon. I do like the plastic bags because I reuse them for so many things, including grocery shopping-- so I think I'll stick with those until my store starts charging. As of now they don't, so I'll keep using them until they do. However, they do take off 5 cents per reusable bag you bring, so I might consider doing it soon.
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@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
12 Dec 09
There are stores here that have been charging all along for plastic bags. A lot of stores sell reusable bags but they don't cost very much. I've sewn a few bags and bought a few bags. It's actually kind of convenient, because the plastic bags can rip, etc., and hurt your fingers.
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@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
11 Dec 09
I love reuseable shopping bags. my husband is the king of freecycle, and someone freecycled about 24 of the ones from our local groccery store (brand new, never been used) out behind our building. Hubby picked 'em up, and we're using 'em. I use one as a handbag, as a matter of fact. I love it!
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@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
14 Dec 09
I've actually never thought about trying to make my own reusable shopping bags. However, when I started doing the bulk of my grocery shopping at Aldi's where they don't give you bags with your purchases so, I emptied my Tupperware consultant's kit out of my kit bag and I've been using that as my shopping bag. That way I didn't have to spend extra money on reusable bags and it holds a ton of the stuff that I buy at the store. This is, however, an idea that I will probably use in the future.
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