Foldable and reusable grocery bag / Ecobag (C31)

This week's project is a reusable and foldable grocery bag, it takes up little space, allowing you to always carry one in your pocket or bag and thus avoiding the use of plastic bags.

I have been using reusable cloth bags for several years, I have made several models, this one was a first, that’s also why I forgot some steps along the way.  I prefer bags with larger handles so I can carry them in my hand and on my shoulder, but this one was for a short person so I couldn't have the straps too long.

As I had fabric available, I cut a single piece of fabric, but to save fabric when cutting, you can do the facing separately, if you do make sure you add seam allowance to join the two, and when joining the handles you should fold the tip so that the edge of the fabric is hiden.

Another way to save fabric is to make the pocket and the union using the fabric left over from the handles opening. If the size is not enough, you can join two pieces so that the seam is in the center, this way, when the pocket is finished, the seam will be at the bottom.

You can make the pocket any size you want, fold the bag in the way that seems most suitable to you and make the pocket taking those dimensions into account. If you don't want to make a pocket, you can add an elastic band or ribbon with a button to hold the bag in place after rolling it up.

The bag can also be made any size you want, I made it with the mouth slightly narrower than the bottom, as you can see in the pattern, but if you want you can do it strait, in this case you just need to make the pattern for the handles.

My bags usually end up with ugly seams at the handles, because with the weight the fabric starts to open, so I liked this way of joining the handles, it seemed to me that the seam was well reinforced and should hold up well.

These are the templates I used.

pocket template

bag template

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions – 42 cm (w) * 40 cm (h) * 7 (d) 

Weight - 50 g  

Reference: C31

 

In the video there are two moments in which I forgot a step and had to go back, this happens to me quite often, on the one hand because I am forgetful, and on the other because most of the time I am doing the piece for the first time and so I don't have a defined plan, I record has I go along. I also think there's no harm in showing when things don't go as planned, it can even help someone gain confidence by seeing that others are also making mistakes, not everything you see on youtube come out perfect at the first try.