Reusable product bags make it a snap to forego plastic bags, but in order to use them you’ve got to have them on hand. Lucky for you, this tutorial will walk you through creating a fabric bag that you can easily carry with you so that it’s there when you need it. Read on as Spoonflower teammate Gina walks you this reusable produce bag project using our Organic Sweet Pea Gauze™, which you’ll love for its airy lightness that will make market day both eco-friendly and stylish.
Gina: So, my dad has a farm. He grows a ton of seasonal fruits and veggies and anytime I visit him I return home with bags bursting with winter kale, summer blackberries and even the occasional pumpkin. It’s the best. However, the plastic bags he packs it in are kind of the worst.
But don’t fret, Spoonflower’s Organic Sweet Pea Gauze is here to save us all from the army of plastic grocery bags trying to take over our pantries, closets and under-the-sink cabinets. It’s the perfect fabric for making breathable, washable, adorable, and most importantly, reusable produce bags that are easy to toss in your car or tote for your next trip to the market.
Bonus: this project is super simple. Quick and easy project + less plastic = happier planet. Everybody wins.
Grab some gauze, and let’s get sewing!
Materials
- 1 fat quarter of Organic Sweet Pea Gauze per bag OR for a complete set of bags, you can cut one yard into four rectangles approximately 28” x 18” each
- If gauze isn’t your thing or you’d like something sturdy for some heartier veggies, give Linen Cotton Canvas or Lightweight Cotton Twill a try.
- 1 yard of twill tape, ribbon, or other coordinating tie material per bag—choose a material that measures 1″ wide or less
- Sewing machine and/or serger
- Ruler, scissors, thread, fabric marker an pins
- Small safety pin
- An episode of your favorite sitcom to keep you company, because that’s about how long this project will take you
1. Prepare your fabric.
Serge or zig-zag stitch the edges of your fat quarter to finish the edges.
A note on pre-washing: Organic Sweet Pea Gauze crinkles in the wash, and generally, washing your gauze after hemming is recommended to account for any shrinkage that occurs. Because exact sizing isn’t super important for this project and a little post-wash shrinkage is okay, I prefer to sew my bags flat and wash them afterward.
2. On the fabric’s short edges, mark 3″ from the top edge.
Place your fat quarter in front of you so with the wrong side facing up. On both of the shorter edges of the fabric, measure and make a mark 3″ from the top edges.
3. Fold and hem the 3″ section you marked in step 2.
Next, you’re going to hem the 3″ area you just marked on your short edges. These short hemmed sections will be the edges of your casing. Hemming them now means you don’t have any exposed threads once your bag is finished. Fold 1/4″ of the 3″ marked side edge inward. Pin and sew in place. Repeat for the left edge.
4. Sew the casing.
From the top (longer) edge of your fat quarter, fold 1/4″ inward. Pin and sew in place.
Next, fold the top hemmed edge down so it’s in line with your 3″ marks. Pin and sew in place to create a 1 1/2″ drawstring casing, as when folded over and doubled it will match up with the 3″ mark.
5. Create the body of your bag.
After you’ve created the drawstring casing, fold your fat quarter in half widthwise with the right sides facing inward.
Pin the open sides together, being careful to line up the edges of the casing.
6. Sew the open sides of the bag together.
Sew the bottom and side edges together with a 1/4″ seam allowance, stopping at the edge of your casing. Turn rightside out, and voilá, you have a bag!
Stitch along the lines indicated in the photo below.
7. Insert your drawstring.
Attach a safety pin to one end of your drawstring material and feed it through your casing.
8. Finish your drawstring edges.
Knot or fold and stitch the ends of your ties—I prefer to knot them together so I can hang my bags up.
That’s it! My favorite thing about these bags—aside from being the easiest DIY ever—is that you can take them straight from the market (or farm, in my case) to your fridge or pantry. They’ll keep your food dry and safe, and they can be thrown in the wash once they’re empty.
Be sure to snap a pic of your new produce bags on your next trip to the farmers’ market and #spoonflower!
Happy sewing,
Gina
Thank you for this simple and lovely pattern ❤️
[…] Reusable Produce Bag […]
Is anybody making these who is wanting to supply a shop? If so ! I would love to chat about it with you.
[email protected] Thank you!!
I Love this idea and I’d like to make some to use at the grocery store instead of plastic. I’m trying to figure out how to make the bag so that the tag could still be seen but not use any plastic. My only thought is to run a strip of clear vinyl (plastic :-I) down the long side of the bag, then just place food in the bag with the tag showing through that. Do you have any other ideas?
Your bag directions in your magazine calls for a wooden toggle button…you don’t mention how to put that on in your tutorial. Can you tell me how? I would like the toggle button instead of just a knot. Thanks!
Hi Cheryl,
Unfortunately this tutorial does not include directions for adding a toggle button and we’re sorry to disappoint. We recommend following the manufacturer’s instructions on the toggle packaging.
I had the same question as initially, all the fabrics I looked at were 42″ wide and it seemed impossible to make four 18×28″ rectangles from a yard of fabric.
Yes, I found some fabrics that are 56″ wide but you make it really hard to find them as they are scattered among the 42″ wide fabrics. If you really wanted to help your customers, you would put all the fabrics of 42″ wide in one section and all the fabrics 56″ wide in another section.
Who actually has time to click on every single fabric you offer to find the 56″ wide fabrics???
This part of your web site is NOT user friendly. Today I am leaving the web site purchasing nothing as I am too frustrated to click on a zillion fabric samples to see how big they are.
I will come back in a few weeks to check but without the delineation , you have lost a this customer.
Hi Rosemary,
Thanks so much for your feedback and we apologize for any frustration our site may have caused. We have passed along your feedback to our development team. -Meredith from Spoonflower
Greta looking bag but I would like to make one with handes.
Could you show a pattern for that.
Thanks
Hi Nancy,
You’re in luck! Stay tuned for a tutorial for a tote bag with handles next week. In the meantime, you may find this beach tote tutorial helpful.
Materials: ‘Dinosaur lamp not necessary but highly recommended’ HAHAHAHA Humorous! ❤️
These would also make great bags for swim suits n towels.
Hi Lauren,
That’s a great idea! It would definitely make a “splash” at the pool!
So a fat quarter is 22×18 how am I to get 28×18 from a fat quarter or 4 of these from a yard?
The gauze mentioned is 56 ” wide.
Hi Amy,
Great question! A yard of Organic Sweet Pea Gauze is 56″ wide which means a fat quarter of this fabric would be 28 x 18″. If you have any other questions, please let us know!
-Meredith from Spoonflower
I guess it’s SAFE to say, that “ALL fat-quarters are NOT created equal???”
28″ = 50% of 56″ wide fabric…
Then, if this is TRUE, then 50% of 60″w fabric would a 30″would a fat quarter make… ???? YES?
Susan learning this 2yrs later after prior posts were added.
Yes, it’s true, Susan, the width can vary, while the length stays the same! (Which means sometimes math is involved!)
You may have already learned from the following links, but I’m sharing them here in case they’re helpful or anyone else has any related questions! https://blog.spoonflower.com/2020/10/spoonflower-fat-quarters-101 and there’s a ‘cheat sheet’ here: https://blog.spoonflower.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/SF-BLOG-FatQuarters101-Graphics_CheatSheet-scaled.jpg
(And this was a pretty new thing for me to learn too, so you’re not alone in that!)
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower