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Weekly DIY Roundup: Reusable Shopping Bags!
Back in February there was a Threadheads episode all about reusable shopping bags, but I think it's always a great topic to revisit, and I've just discovered a new idea I want to share. Turn your old tank tops into shopping bags with a couple super easy steps! Anitra of the Coffee Pot People blog made up this tutorial, and then I made one sideways so the strap holes are centered and it works fabulously!
Another great recycled tote bag project was in Readymade magazine awhile back - this one uses old rain jackets for a great durable, waterproof shopping sack.
For a basic sewing pattern to use any fabric, check out morsbags, which has downloadable pdf and doc files, as well as a how-to animation. Morsbags encourages "sociable guerilla bagging" - make a bunch of simple bags with your crafty buddies, and give them to shoppers to help them avoid using plastic!
There are tons of great knit/crochet bag patterns out there, like the knit Saturday Market Bag by Jodie Danenberg:
And Elisa's Nest Tote on purlbee.com, knit pattern by Elisa of the 2nd Floor blog:
Amy Singer, editor of Knitty online knitting magazine designed the fantastic Everlasting Bagstopper:
And Lion Brand has a free pattern for their Eco-Friendly Expandable Shopping Bag:
For you crochet lovers, Haley Waxberg wrote patterns for two crochet net bags, the bigger Eco Warrior bag, and then the smaller version for quicker trips.
If you want to really go all out saving plastic bags from killing the earth, try making a knit or crochet bag using plastic bag yarn! The gooseflesh blog has a tutorial for my favorite way of making plastic yarn. And Victoria Woodcock has a knit bag pattern on allfreecrafts.com.
And Cindy of My Recycled Bags has a pattern for a crochet market bag:
If you need more ideas, tipnut.com has a list of 35 reusable grocery bags - sewing, knit and crochet. And I'm sure there are tons more out there, I just wanted to give you a variety of my favorites. Have fun making yourself some bags, and when you forget to bring your reusable bag and are stuck with plastic, save them to either knit/crochet with or fuse+sew them, as explained in this great Etsy Labs tutorial.
Have fun, and share more ideas in the comments!
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