Gift For Mom

So my Mom's birthday was a few weeks ago now and I decided that this year I was going to give her something a little more than just a card. After talking to my Sister and bouncing ideas off of her, the perfect gift dawned on me! A few year ago for a 3D packaging class in school I designed a re-usable grocery shopping bag. My mom LOVED it! when I showed it to her she jokingly asked me if I could make her one. So I decided I finally would!

I originally created this with the help of my sister-in-law's mom Merodene Case. This bag is pretty easy but looks great!

What You Need

One and a half yards of fabric for the outside (I used burlap)

One and a half yards of inside fabric (I just used a common cotton blend)

Sewing Machine

Common sewing tools

Cutting

Cut a peice of fabric (in both the inside and outside fabric so you'll have 2 pieces when your done) about 32 inches by 16 inches.

Cut 2 long strips in both the inside and outside fabric (so you will have 4 pieces) about 3 inches wide and 29 inches long.

Sewing

Fold both inside and outside fabrics in half (hamburger style, not hot dog style) with the right sides together (burlap doesn't really have a right side so it doesn't matter.

(on both the inside and outside fabric) Sew one straight line from the fold to the other end on both sides so you should end up with one side open for a bag like piece. ***On one side of the inside fabric sew about halfway, stop, leave about 3-4 inches of fabric, and sew the rest of the side of the bag.

TRICKY PART

take the corner of where the fold is sewn down. Flatten the bag opposite from the way its folded with the end becoming a triangle. Measure about 2 inches down from the point and pin/mark the line across the triangle perpendicular from the seam. The line should be about 4 inches long. Sew a straight line across that.

Do this for both corners of the fold for both pieces of fabric.

Straps

place an outside fabric piece and an inside fabric piece together (right sides together) so that they make one long strip. Sew one long seam on each side of the long sides. Do again with other pieces. You should have 2 tube-like pieces when your done. Turn them inside out with your fingers. Iron flat. Carefully sew another straight seam down each long side to secure it.

Bag

Turn Outside fabric around so that the "right side" is on the outside. Place inside "inside" fabric aligning the two side seams on each side. Place straps in between the two fabrics with the un-sewn edges pointing up and aligned with the rim of the bag fabric. Place straps in the place you would like them ( I placed mine about 2 1/2 inches from the side seams). Pin down the entire top rim including the straps. Sew one seam along the entire circle, I did this twice to strengthen the seam.

Find the hole you left in the "inside" fabric and pull all material out so the bag should be right side out. Take hole on the "inside" fabric and fold inside so it matches the rest of the seam and pin down/together. Sew along that area very close to the edge until the side is closed completely. Push fabric inside the "outside " fabric. Make one more seam along the top ridge to secure it.

Sorry I don't have like any pictures for this one! I made my mom's bag at 2 in the morning and was not really thinking about blogging! haha. You can post any questions in the comments and I will try to answer them.