The motivation to make my own produce bag comes from a recent debate in the supermarket with my dear husband. For a long time, I have been content with weighing my produce and sticking the sticker onto one of the items. He did not share the same thoughts, however, and was putting potatoes into plastic bags!! So this is my attempt to dissuade him from this habit, although he looked unimpressed by my creation, and is yet to try it out! Regardless of what he thinks, I love it, and it is so easy to do!
How to Make Your Own Loose Produce Bag Out of a T-Shirt!
The double satisfaction comes from this project by the fact that we are also upcycling an old t-shirt! All you need on top of that is some string! You will also need some scissors, and a length of sellotape.
Step One
- Flatten your t-shirt on a large surface. You will be sticking sellotape onto this surface to make sure it is one that it will easily peel off!
Step Two
- Cut the hemmed bottom off the t-shirt. You won’t be needing this due to the stitches in it. Proceed to cut the t-shirt into strips until you are a few centimeters from the arms. The bigger the t-shirt, the bigger the bag! Give all of your loops of the t-shirt a bit of a stretch!
Step Three
- Arrange the strips back in a line. I made sure I had one of the side seams at the top. Ensure these are lined up nice and straight as these are going to form the top of your bag where the drawstring will be.
- Stick these down to the surface, and cut the bottom of the loops so you have two strips coming down from each of the t-shirt hoops.
Step Four
- Putting the first of the strips to the side, knot the next two together, keep doing this across all of the strips. Once you have done this, it is time to start the next row, do this by knotting together strips from each of the existing knots, going along the row again.
- Once this is complete, knot the next row as per the first row (see diagram!).
- Keep knotting rows until you have made a nice stretchy mesh, leaving enough of the fabric strips at the bottom to tie the bottom together later.
Step Five
- Unstick the sellotape and detach it from your loops. Thread string/rope through the loops and then fold the mesh in half so that you can attach together the open ends. I did this by knotting together the two threads that were left over, looping them back through the mesh, and then knotting again. Do this the whole way down the length of your produce bag.
Step Six
- Knot together the adjacent bottom strips of fabric to bring the bottom of the bag together. Altenatively, you can cut some fabric off the remains of the t-shirt, passing this through the bottom loops and knot these together. Once the bottom is knotted together, cut off any loose ends to tidy up.
Step Seven
- Turn the produce bag inside out if you wish so that the bottom knots are on the inside. Pass one end of the string back though the loops to create the drawstring. Knot the two ends of the string together.
Step Eight
Fill it full of produce on your next trip to the supermarket!
Do give it a try and let us know how you get on!
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