Grocery Bag Holder - Tutorial

Seb has a textiles project for which he needs to make a textile item.  Not one for making something just for the sake of it Isoon realised that I needed a new grocery bag holder as my shop bought one (from Spain) has recently fallen apart.   This seemed like an ideal project for Seb to undertake and I was really impressed with how well Seb did in making this and thought it would be a good and easy project to share.

You will need:

8 rectangles of fabric 11cm by 55 cm

Kitchen and dress making scissors

Sewing machine

Cotton thread

iron

Safety pin

Thin elastic

Short piece of ribbon

 

1.     Use greaseproof paper, a ruler or tape measure, a pencil and kitchen scissors to measure and cut out a template pattern ( a rectangle shape measuring 11 cm by 55 cm)

 

2.    Pin the template pattern to a scrap of fabric and carefully cut the material using dress making scissors

 

3.    Remove the pattern from the fabric and repeat with other scraps of fabric until you have eight rectangles of fabric (ideally in complementary colours / patterns)

 

4.    Thread a sewing machine with the thread colour of your choice and  zig-zag stitch around the edge of each rectangle to stop it from fraying.

 

5.    Pin together two strips of fabric along one long edge (right sides of the fabric together)

 

6.    Adjust the stitch length on your sewing machine to stitch length 2.

      7.  Sew the two pieces of material together along one edge with a seam allowance of 10            mm (using reverse stitch at both ends to secure the thread.  You can remove the    
           pins  as you sew to avoid sewing over them.

 

8.    Pin to the next strip of fabric (again right sides together) and sew that long edge too.  Continue until all eight strips of fabric are joined together in one long piece.

 

 

9.    Using an ironing board and iron, press the seams on the reverse of the fabric until they are all flat.  Press each seam according to the direction in which it naturally wishes to lay.

   

 

10. Turn over the long edge of the bottom strip of fabric and pin (to the reverse of the material), a seam allowance of approximately ¼ inch in place.  Sew along the seam leaving enough room (approximately 15mm) to later thread through a narrow piece of elastic.  Use reverse stitch at each end to secure the thread.
 

 

11. Repeat the above step to make a similar seam on the reverse side of the top strip of fabric.

 

12. Use a small safety pin to pierce the end of a thin piece of elastic and then using the pin as a guide, thread the elastic through one of the seams.

    

13. Secure one end of the elastic securely in place by sewing it to the inside of the seam edge.

 

14. Pull the elastic taut and bunch up the seam fabric.  Cut the elastic at your chosen length and stitch the end to the inside of the seam edge.

 

 

15. Repeat steps 12 to 14 for the other seam.

16. Turn the fabric right sides together and pin along the long edges to allow a seam of approximately ½ inch.

 

17. Sew along the seam with a seam allowance of approximately 10 mm and use reverse stitch at each end to secure the thread.

 

18. Take a short piece of ribbon (an appropriate length for however long you want the handle). Turn up the end of a piece of ribbon and stitch it to the reverse side of the top of your bag.  Attach and stitch the other end of the ribbon to the other side of the bag.

 

19. Turn the bag the right way out and stuff with carrier bags

 20.  Hang ready for use.