How To - Reuseable Produce Bags

Here's a photo of my newest project. No, no, not the cat. The bag behind the cat. Frugal living is very fashionable these days. I think it may be a good thing. Sort of a collective attitude adjustment.

We're also trying to add more fruits and veggies to our diet. But what about all those plastic bags we bring home from the market, too flimsy to reuse but still made from oil based chemicals.

Here's my solution...Trot down to the local Thrift Shop and score some old window sheers. They're made of a sheer nylon fabric and even come in pretty colors. Please wash them first then make some cool reuseable produce bags out of them. Here's how.

Lay the sheers down so that the hem is laying horizontally across the top. Cut a rectangle 22" X 14" with that hem along one of the 22" lengths. Fold in half wrong sides together to create an 11" X 14" rectangle. Stitch across the bottom and up the side with the raw edge. Turn wrong side out and press those seams. Stitch along those same two sides again to enclose the raw edges in the seam.

Topstitch along the hemmed opening of your bag, one inch down from the edge. Cut two small holes in the hem, below the topstitching, one inch on either side of the side seam. Run a length of satin ribbon or a shoelace through one hole, all the way through the hem to the other hole. I like to tie a knot in both ends of the ribbon. Now you have a drawstring for your bag.

Turn right side out.

Ta-Dah!

You now have a washable, reusable produce bag. The fabric is sheer enough that the checker can see the code on the fruits but sturdy enough that you can wash it over and over again. As you can see from the photos above, Sugar the cat has thoroughly inspected my produce bags and she approves. That was easy now, wasn't it?