Did you know about one trillion single-use plastic bags are used annually across the globe? That’s nearly 2 million every minute.
In an effort to do our part in reducing plastic bags, our volunteers are creating reusable shopping bags.
They created three different types of bags:
- Easy T-shirt bags
- Simple Stitch Upcycled Material bags
- Foldable bags
Easy T-Shirt bags
The first style can be made from old T-shirts.
Step 1: Select Your Shirt
Step 2: Line up your shirt and cut off the neck and sleeves. Turn the shirt inside out and stitch straight across the bottom. Cut off the remaining material and flip right side out.
Step 3: We personalized the bags by printing our logo onto fabric paper and stitching it to the inside of the bag. You could also add the owners name or a cute gift message.
Simple Stitch Upcycled Material bags
You can use anything with a fun pattern that was no longer usable for its original purpose. We used material from old jeans, curtains, and tablecloths.
Step 1: Select the material you wish to use
Step 2: Once you’ve found your fabric, cut out two rectangles about a ½ inch bigger than your desired size. We liked the 16 x 11-inch or 18 x 13-inch size. These pieces make up the front and back of the bag.
Step 3: To make the bottom and sides you will need a piece that is twice the height and once the width. For example, the 16 x 11 bag will need a panel 43 inches long. Then cut 2 pieces for straps to your desired length.
Step 4: Once you have your pieces cut, sew the front and back pieces to your long panel to create the body of the bag.
Step 5: Add your straps by placing them in your desired position and fold the top edge over. Sew all the way around the top edge to finish. Then pull the strap out and do another stich to anchor them in place.
Step 6: We chose to personalize these bags with printable fabric paper and sewed them into place with a zig zag stich.
Foldable Bags
We made the foldable style bag by recreating the Simple Stitch Upcycles Material bag (the second one) with a slightly thiner material and simply adding a button and a loop to make the bag foldable.
It is estimated that 500 single-use plastic bags are replaced by using one reusable bag for one year. With this easy DIY you can truly make a difference. Have fun!
