We’re nearing the end of the book. This time, we’re going back to the beginning, to explain how Teresa learned to sew cloth grocery bags and the two styles she’ll teach in her book. There’s just two more posts to round out the series: one on Production Sewing and one on Selling Your Bags. Stay […]
If you have a large piece of heavy fabric hiding in the stash, you can turn it into grocery bags. The length and width will determine how many bags you end up with. This is what I did with one of those pieces. I bought this piece of fabric a long, long time ago; I […]
As a writer, your hands are one of your most valuable tools. The images that appear in your mind won’t translate to paper without being written down. This is where your hands come in; floating over the keyboard, gripping that expensive French fountain pen, or scribbling notes on scrap paper using a pencil stub. They […]
Good panel and gusset layout is critical for getting the most bags from the least amount of yardage. You start by choosing your size panels as they determine how much fabric you will end up using. I always use 13-by-15-inch panels. With their corresponding gusset, they made a nice size bag that isn’t too large […]
Cloth grocery bags have two costs. The first is your time so you want to be as efficient as possible in making them. The second is the fabric. When buying cloth grocery bag material, you want to look for something sturdy. Start with wovens. Knits generally have too much stretch for grocery bags. If the […]
This is the last step. You will be sewing down straps, first the front panel and then the back panel, finishing each bag in turn. I sew each strap down as a single, continuous stitch line, never removing the needle from the strap or cutting the thread until the bag strap is complete. This means […]
Now we’re sewing bag straps. The first step is to pin the straps to the bags. You will need the stack of bags, your collection of straps, pins, and your spacers and bag insert. If you want to insert a horizontal fabric tag indicating you made the grocery bag, you’ll need them too. I place […]
Set the pile of partially finished cloth grocery bags aside. Now it’s time for making bag straps. If you are going to make cloth straps rather than use purchased webbing, now is the time to do it. Dig through your stash and find those 45-inch-wide pieces of moderate-weight junk fabric in a reasonably coordinating color. […]
In this step, you will prepare the fold-down top, iron the bag, sew down the fold-down top, and then trim it out. At the ironing board, fold down the top edge 2 inches, and press, aligning the stitch line with the stitch line in the bag beneath. The triangular cutouts will allow the foldover to […]