Super Cute Grocery Bag Holder ... A Tutorial
No matter how hard you try to be green (eco-friendly, not the color), you always wind up with stacks of plastic bags. Whether you use them when walking your puppy, or line your garbage can with them, it’s nice to have a place to store your bags – and it’s even nicer when your storage is cute … and cheap. Here’s how to make a super cute grocery bag holder yourself!
You’ll need the following supplies:
1 piece of fabric cut to 20X25 inches. You can do a little smaller depending on how many bags you need to store, but this size allows you to store a lot of bags! You can either buy some super cute fabric or you can use a scrap you have around the house. Where to buy super cute fabric in Dallas? City Craft at Lovers and Inwood! Just be warned, you’ll want everything in the store!
2 pieces of ¼” wide elastic – one piece cut to 11” and the other piece cut to 6 ½”. You can get a pack of elastic at the craft store for less than $2. It’ll be more than you need but you’ll want to make these for your friends so go ahead and splurge!
1 piece of ribbon (we used grosgrain) at least 14 inches long. You can use a smaller piece of ribbon depending on where you’re going to hang the holder when you’re finished with it.
Thread if you’re going to sew or your favorite no-sew product (we like Heat n Bond© or Stitch Witchery©)
Start out by sewing a casing/pocket/tube for your elastic at each end of your fabric. You can use the presser foot on your sewing machine as a guide for the size, but be sure you’re going to be able to fit your elastic in the casing/pocket/tube or you’re going to be losing your joy very quickly! Do this on both ends.
Thread your elastic through the casing/pocket/tube you just made (if you use a safety pin this will be much easier than if you don’t). Stitch your elastic down on both ends so it doesn’t come out of its pocket. At this point you’ll need to decide which end is the top and which is the bottom. The top will get the longer piece of elastic (because you want the opening to be big enough to fit a lot of bags in) and the bottom will have the shorter piece of elastic.
Now it’s time to add your ribbon. This is where you go from funky looking piece of fabric with elastic to something that starts to look cute. Stitch your ribbon to the right (pretty) side of your fabric about 1 inch from the top of your holder.
Final steps. With right (pretty) sides together, pin and stitch the long (non elastic-y) sides of your fabric together to make one tube. Be sure to back stitch at the beginning and end of the project to hold everything in place.
Stuff your unruly bags into place and voila, a super cute, super easy, super economical grocery bag holder. Enjoy!
