Manic Mondays: DIY Produce Bag

We have started to become regulars at our local Farmer's Market these past few months. I love the idea of fresh produce, meats, and eggs. Plus all the handmade soaps and beauty products are wonderful treasures!! Only thing is I hate bringing home plastic bags. I have yet to accumulate enough reusable grocery bags for our weekly grocery store trips (we eat a alot) so we have waaaay more than enough plastic bags.
 Thanks to Pinterest  though, I found a way to make my own reusable produce bag that I can take with me to the Farmer's Market. And it's out of OLD T-SHIRTS. Yay for being cheap frugal!!!!! 

This project does require a tiiiiiny bit of sewing but you don't have to be an expert because all you have to do is sew in a line (and it doesn't even have to be straight!!). 

ITEMS NEEDED:

Old t-shirt

sewing machine

scissors

pen, marker, or chalk 

 So start with your t-shirt inside out. I used one of hubby's old shirts to make one big bag. And it doesn't matter if it has a print on it. A printed shirt would probably make it look more unique :)

The next part I forgot to take a picture of (oops) but all you do is fold the shirt in half lengthwise and use a marker to make the shape of your bag. Unless you want a smaller bag, don't cut the original side seams of the t-shirt. Plus this will save you from a lot of sewing. I went head and angled my bag on the bottom but you can just cut straight across if you prefer. 

Then, sew along the open edge which is the bottom of your bag. I would suggest a zig zag stitch but you can just do a straight stitch and reinforce it by doing another straight stitch right next to it.  

Here is my zig zag stitch.

zig zag stitch reinforced with straight stitch.

When your done sewing the bottom closed, use your marker to make dashes which, when cut, will serve as your "mesh". Also make sure to make a line where you would want the cut out for your handle to be. 

Cut a slit on your mark using the tips of the scissors. Make sure you go through both sides of the fabric. And you will repeat this for all of your marks. 

When you are done, strrreeeeeetttch out the fabric (don't rip it) to widen and stretch out your cut holes. Then turn your bag right side out and....

The end result is a handy dandy produce bag to put all your fresh veggies in! Great thing about this is you can toss it in with your dirty laundry to get it clean again. LOVE IT!!! I'll be making a whole lot more of these and in different sizes. Thinking about even making one to throw all the bath toys in and hang it to dry! 

What other ideas can you come up with to use these bags for???