How to make a practical shopping bag

Every time I go shopping they give me a lot of plastic bags. I never know what to do with so many. It really annoys me to storage them at home. I use some of them as trash bags but they are still too many and I don’t produce enough garbage to fill them all.

Lately I am getting more and more used to having some fabric bags for my shopping or I  simply carry stuff in the basket of my bike. A fabric bag is not only more ecological but it can be very personal and fun. You can customize any existing bag or just make your own. To get the patterns, you can search in the infinite universe of Internet endless ideas.

My groceries bag

The story of the fabric I chose is very interesting. When my people travel, I tent to ask them to bring me genuine fabrics from any place. A while ago my friend Daniel traveled to Mexico, his second home ( actually he keeps an interesting blog about Mexico and traveling  Planning Mexico ) . He is a funny character and after failing the mission of bringing me fabric from Guatemala, finally a few months ago he  landed  with meters and meters of Mexican cotton. He brought me three colors: yellow, green and red.

I have decided to make the outside of the bag in red and use the green fabric for the inside instead of  a normal lining.

In this case, I knew the bag I wanted to make so I just draw a simple pattern (see below) and then started to execute.

First we cut all the red fabric pieces. A total of 8 pieces:

• 4 pieces of 66cm x 3 cm (25,98″ x 1,18″) to make the handles (each handle is made by joining 2 of this pieces and sewing them together)
• 2 pieces to reinforce the handles of the bag. 35cm x 2cm (13,78″ x 0,79″)
• Plus 2 extra pieces of the main part to make the lining

When cutting the fabric, remember to let some space for the seams.  In this bag I just let 1 cm.

As you can see in the picture below, I added a small detail. A little label in a corner where you can read: ” Eco Nakatani”.

To do it I used some small rubber stamps and special textile paint. I wanted a very sober bag since my main goal is to just use it to go to the supermarket but the possibilities to customize your bag are endless. All you need is a little bit of inspiration or imagination.

You can draw with textile pens, add  sewing pearls, stick crystals , play with a pattern made out of different fabrics… I will show you some examples in the future.

Now I am ready to buy some groceries at the market!

Remember, if you have any question about this or any other project you can always drop me an email using the contact form you can find here

My groceries bag

The story of the fabric I chose is very interesting. When my people travel, I tent to ask them to bring me genuine fabrics from any place. A while ago my friend Daniel traveled to Mexico, his second home ( actually he keeps an interesting blog about Mexico and traveling  Planning Mexico ) . He is a funny character and after failing the mission of bringing me fabric from Guatemala, finally a few months ago he  landed  with meters and meters of Mexican cotton. He brought me three colors: yellow, green and red.

I have decided to make the outside of the bag in red and use the green fabric for the inside instead of  a normal lining.

In this case, I knew the bag I wanted to make so I just draw a simple pattern (see below) and then started to execute.

First we cut all the red fabric pieces. A total of 8 pieces:

• 4 pieces of 66cm x 3 cm (25,98″ x 1,18″) to make the handles (each handle is made by joining 2 of this pieces and sewing them together)
• 2 pieces to reinforce the handles of the bag. 35cm x 2cm (13,78″ x 0,79″)
• Plus 2 extra pieces of the main part to make the lining

When cutting the fabric, remember to let some space for the seams.  In this bag I just let 1 cm.

As you can see in the picture below, I added a small detail. A little label in a corner where you can read: ” Eco Nakatani”.

To do it I used some small rubber stamps and special textile paint. I wanted a very sober bag since my main goal is to just use it to go to the supermarket but the possibilities to customize your bag are endless. All you need is a little bit of inspiration or imagination.

You can draw with textile pens, add  sewing pearls, stick crystals , play with a pattern made out of different fabrics… I will show you some examples in the future.

Now I am ready to buy some groceries at the market!

Remember, if you have any question about this or any other project you can always drop me an email using the contact form you can find here