How to make your own reusable drawstring bags

Today my reusable produce bags had their first outing at the supermarket. It all went rather well, I have to say. The produce went into the bags, the bags did not fall apart and no supermarket bureaucrat came up to me and demanded that I use the supplied plastic bags. At 29 grams for the largest of the bags they don’t add to the price of anything more than maybe a couple of cents and when I got to the checkout the person processing my purchases even said, ‘What beautiful bags.’ Plastic avoided, bags functional and praised for aesthetic reasons. Success.

Of course it was a bit depressing to have my little victory with the produce bags and then realise that everything else in the supermarket was encased in some sort of packaging . . . but I think that’s a post for another day.

Someone asked me how to make reusable drawstring bags. If you too would like to know, then here are some instructions. Please remember that before I made the bags I didn’t know a sewing machine’s backside from its frontside, so they will be a little imprecise and erratic . . . but that’s how I made them. If you also want to make them in an imprecise and erratic manner, well, all I can say is that it does work

Making reusable drawstring bags

You will need:
            x1 metre net curtain fabric or similar

            x6 metres lightweight drawstring cord

            x8 drawstring stoppers

x1 spool cotton

sewing machine

safety pin

perseverance – but not too much of this

1.                    Cut two rectangles of fabric. Decide what size you want them to be (I made three different sizes, a small a medium and a large) then add 1.5 cm three sides for seam allowance and about 3.5 cm to the top for drawstring allowance .

2.                    Pin the fabric together

3.                    Sew three sides of the fabric together leaving 1.5 cm for the seams and 3.5 cm at the top for the drawstring.

4.                    Zigzag stitch along the two raw edges at the top

5.                    Fold in the fabric on the sides at the top and sew down so you have two large long flaps at the top with the right and left edges sewn down.

6.                    Fold down each flap and sew a long seam along the top so you have a long narrow tunnel of fabric.

7.                    Pin a safety pin into the top of a length of drawstring cord and thread through the narrow tunnel you have made at the top of the bag. Thread both length of cord through the end of drawstring stopper and pull tight.

You should have a drawstring bag. If you have chosen pretty net curtain fabric you will have a very attractive bag. It can be used for a number of things that you might once have used a plastic bag for.