These were a God-inspired project. That's right, God inspired me to make these for someone else. The church has some new members, new to the Faith and new to the church, and they have some needs, so the church asked for donations of food to help the family, specifically fresh produce foods and other non-canned stuff. That's where God came in. He nudged me into purchasing extra produce when I went to the produce stand and, before I went to the produce stand, He inspired me to make bags for them. These bags are a heavier type of material and therefore more sturdy than those plastic bags you get from the stores. How neat would it be to receive a set of sturdy grocery bags? I really hope this family appreciates and enjoys this gift (as well as all the food and other gifts the church provided!).
First, I cut the material to about the right size for the body and handles for each bag. Below is the folded cut material ready to be worked for two bags (of the same material).
The first thing I did was ironed everything out and got rid of all the creases and wrinkles. then I ironed the handles in half.
I used the center crease from the ironing to measure about 1 to 1 1/2 inches for the handles on both sides of the crease. One bag had 1 inch handles while the others had 1 1/2 inch handles. I ironed down the extra so it would be easier to sew. When I folded the center crease, the ironed under parts came together and lined up so I could sew a seam with the sides tucked in. Then I folded the bag body in half and creased the bottom there, too. I also needed to trim the tops of the bags so they would be even (I don't cut very straight sometimes!).
After that, I straight pinned the edge of the handle to the bag and sewed with the machine to reinforce the handles with the bag. Below is a picture of the handle attached to the bag before I sewed the top seams.
Next, I ironed the tops down inside to make the top seam. Keep in mind I haven't done anything with the sides yet, so there are two sides to iron and sew.
Then I sewed the seam across each of the two top sections.
Once both sides of the top were sewn, I folded the bag in half and held it by its handles, lined up the top corners and sewed from top to bottom for the first part of a French seam.
Then I trimmed the extra material off (about 1/4 inch from the thread, again, sometimes I can't cut very straight in the first place!) for both sides.
Then I turned the bag in-side-out to make the second part of the French seam and sewed from the bottom of the bag to the top of the bag.
Once the French seams were complete on both sides, I boxed the bottoms of the bags by sewing a triangle piece on each corner with the bottom crease of the bag lined up with the side seam.
In-side-out it looks kind of funny, but I promise it works GREAT!!
Turned right-side-out it looks pretty nice!
Also, I made three produce bags for them to use! I made them with the same pattern as the rest of the bags but left off the handles.
Below is the picture of all the bags I made for the family plus one random mat I made for the tea set I inherited from my great-grandparents. There were six grocery bags and 3 produce bags.
I wanted something to break the white in this area, so I figured I'd sew something up right quick while I had my sewing stuff out and ready to go. I made the mat like the lunch and dinner napkins by ironing around the edges to a thin border and sewing the rectangle. Pretty simple.
That's all for this post, folks, I hope you enjoyed and have new inspiration for gifts and useful things at home!
Blessings!!!!
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