Reusable bags are great, but
sometimes when we are trying to watch our pennies we end up opting
for the bags at the stores that aren’t exactly on the eco-friendly
side. A nice remedy for this is to make your own eco-friendly
reusable bag. One easy way to do this is by recycling one of your old
pillowcases or finding a super cheap single organic pillowcase.
Creative Kismet has supplied a pattern online in order to show
everyone how to do just this. Please go to Creative Kismet’s
website in order to properly follow these instructions due to the fact that
they have pictures to go along with the set by step instructions.
Good luck all!
Here is what you will need:
Cutting mat or nice large space to work on
Scissors (rotary cutter optional)
Thrifted pillowcase (any size), washed and ironed
Sewing machine, thread, pins and sewing needles(optional)
Hot iron
About one hour of time and some good music
1. Turn pillowcase inside-out and fold
in half long-ways.
2. Cut a 3-4 inch strip off of one
side. Save the long strip for the straps.
3. Open and lay flat. Pin together the open sides. You will be
sewing this together in the following manner, leaving a 6 inch (15cm)
gap in the center.
4. Cut a 2-inch square (a) off
of all four corners (b) making sure to measure from the folded edge
and seam, not the rough edge.
5. Following these instructions, you are going to square off each corner (c).
6. When all four corners are
sewn, flip the bag right side out through the open gap and sew the
gap closed (hand or machine– I used my machine for this). Now you
will have a completely sewn shut, empty pillowcase with squared-off
corners.
7. Now the fun (and kinda hard to
explain) part… Fold the pillowcase into itself by stuffing the just
sewn together gap-end into the bottom of the
opposite end. The sewn together gap-end will be the
inside bottom of your bag(d) and the squared-off corners will meet
together on each side(e).
8. Once all the corners meet(f), iron and then sew around the top
edge. Now you are ready for the straps
9. Cut off the big hemmed end
off of the remaining strip. Fold the strip in half long-ways and cut
again. These will be your two straps. They should be 12-16inches long
each.
10. With the right sides facing in, sew
together the short ends of each strap, leaving one long side open.
11. Trim the corners(g) and turn
right-side out.
12. Following the picture above, fold
the ends towards the inside so that the raw edges are tucked
inside(h-j). Once it is straight and flat(k), press with an iron and
sew together(l-m).
13. Lastly, sew one strap to each side of your bag with big
criss-cross squares(n) and you are done!!!