Fold up shopping bag

Happy Thanksgiving! Looking for a fun project for your Monday holiday? Try this shopping bag. My favorite kind of re-useable shopping bags are the ones that fold up into a little pouch and fit right into our purse.  That way when you’re on your way home from school or work and an impromptu shopping trip occurs you won’t have to curse yourself for not bringing your bulky grocery totes.

What you’ll need:
Approximately 1m of lining* (maybe less depending on how big you want your bag)
Velcro
Sewing machine
*I’ve chosen to use lining for this project. While lining is somewhat difficult to cut and frays easily, it is inexpensive and super easy to fold up into a little pouch. However, feel free to experiment with whatever fabric you have at home.

The Steps:

1. Cut two rectangles of lining, approximately 35cm wide and 60cm long.
   

   What your cut fabric should look like

2. Starting approximately 12cm from each side cut a square (approx. 20cm) from the top portion of your two rectangles.  Round the ends of the square to make sewing step easier later on.  Do not throw out this piece of fabric, as you will need it later on. As you can now see the two strips at the side will become your handles.  * You can also round the end corners of your bag to make sewing super easy.
3. Lining frays easily, so serge or use French seams to encase the seam allowance and help to reinforce the bag.  *Remember that if you use the French seam method your seam allowance has to be double what it normally would be.  So if you are sewing at 1cm your seam allowance has to be 2cm.  Or, if your seam allowance is 1cm you have to sew your bag at 1/2cm.  Keep this in mind when you are deciding the measurements for your bag.
4. Beginning at the level of the bag opening and with the wrong sides of your fabric together, start sewing the base of your bag together.
5. Turn the bag so that the right sides are together (at this point it might be helpful to press the seam flat) and sew around the base of the bag again.  *Now if your seam allowance is more than 1cm you can grade the original seam allowance before you sew so that they’ll be completely encased in the next seam, or you can just sew your second seam a little wider than the first.  The base of your bag is now done, on to the handles.
6. With right sides together, sew the ends of the bag handles together. You can sew the seam a second time to reinforce the seam.  Press seam open.  Serge to prevent fraying.
7. To finish the handles, press fabric under on wrong side and stitch around the outside edge of the handle. Repeat the same process on the inside edge of the handles.
   

   Use your scraps to create the pouch.

8. Remember those scraps of fabric that you cut from the bag earlier?  You need them now to make the pouch your bag will get folded into.  With the wrong sides together, sew around the sides of the pieces, leaving the flat edge open.  Then grade the round edges and turn the newly created pocket inside out. Press.


Sewing the pouch in place.

9. Pin the pouch to the inside of your bag.  Leave the rounded edge sticking about 1/3 of the way past the edge of your bad.  Sew the two sides and the bottom of the pouch to the bag.  Continue to topstitch on the rounded edge of the pouch.


Sew in velcro closures.

10. Sew one side of a piece of Velcro to the inside of your pouch flap, and the other side to the outside of the pouch (when the bag is folded up).
11. Fold your bag inside the pouch. You might run an iron over the pouch once you’ve folded it inside, this will crease the fabric slightly and show you where you have to fold to the bag back in the pouch each time. There you have it!  Your very own re-usable shopping bad to take with you wherever you go.