Bag in service!
I’ve stopped buying spices in bottles. Instead, I choose spices from the bulk section at the health food store. My store provides customers with small plastic bags to fill, and that’s certainly less plastic than I’d be throwing away if I purchased the spices in a plastic bottle, but it’s still waste. I finally had some time yesterday to sew some small cloth bags that I can use for buying things like tea and spices in bulk. Let me state that I’m not a fabulous seamstress. I’m good with straight lines, though. This project took me about an hour and netted three mini bags. For a tutorial on how I did it, click through to see pictures and instructions.
I started by cutting a 6″ strip of fabric from the end of a 44″ wide piece of cloth. This length (6″ x 44″) will ultimately make three bags. I opted to use a French seam, so there will be fewer loose ends or threads to contend with when I use the bags.
To start, fold the fabric in half, wrong sides facing. (I know. This goes against everything you’ve ever been taught about sewing!)
6" x 44" length of fabric, folded in half.
Sew a straight stitch along both long edges. I used a 1/8″ seam allowance.
First seam.
Turn inside out and press seams.
Pressed edges.
Now use a 3/8″ seam allowance to again sew down the length of the fabric. This seam is essentially securing the loose ends inside of the seam.
Looking inside the bag at the nicely finished seam.
Measure your sewn piece of fabric and cut into three even lengths. Mine were about 7″ long. One of these pieces – the one with the fold – will already have three finished sides. The other two will need to have bottoms sewn in.
Cut into three pieces.
Using the same French seam method, sew one of the open ends closed, starting with wrong sides facing, then turning the bag to sew another seam with right sides facing. Repeat with third bag.
Because I sewed the sides of three bags at once - a shortcut - the corners fold a little weird.
Turn all three bags inside out and hem the opening by folding the fabric over twice (about a quarter inch each time) and then sewing around the edge.
Three bags, hemmed at the top.
Bag in service!
I’ve used a similar method to sew produce bags, though I did each produce bag individually. For those, I used a very fine see through fabric that I picked up at the thrift store for a buck. It looks like something that someone might have used for a bridesmaid dress. My kids are only a little horrified when I pull out my pink produce bags!
Have you had any luck eliminating the plastic bags from your bulk shopping? Do you bring in your own bags? Or does your store weigh your containers for a tare weight so you can fill them directly?
More photos:
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- 6″ x 44″ length of fabric, folded in half.
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- First seam.
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- First seam.
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- Turned, with right sides facing.
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- Second seam.
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- See how the fabric edges are encased in the seam?
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- Looking inside the bag at the nicely finished seam.
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- Cut into three pieces.
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- Close up of cut pieces.
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- First seam for the bottom.
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- Finished bottom seam.
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- Because I sewed the sides of three bags at once – a shortcut – the corners fold a little weird.
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- Finished, except for the opening.
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- Three bags, hemmed at the top.
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- Bag in service!
Those great. Good wok. I must make some too. Thanks for the tut.
Madeleine Booth-Smits recently posted..A year in pictures
My family has been using cloth bags for Christmas presents for years, but to be honest I never thought about using little ones for all kinds of other things, like items from the bulk store! Great idea, as always, Kris!
Lisa, I made cloth bags last year for Christmas. I think my extended family thought I was crazy.
Kris @ Attainable Sustainable recently posted..Mini Bags for Small Bulk Items
Great idea (and so pretty too!). Do you use the pink fruit bags at the supermarket? They sounds like a great idea too.
Liz recently posted..The Safe Cosmetic Act 2011
The pink bags are bigger – the size of plastic produce bags. I use them in the supermarket for fresh produce as well as for bulk items like beans and oats. They don’t work for flour because they’re a little too open weave – the flour leaks out. Maybe I’ll post about these soon, too!
Kris @ Attainable Sustainable recently posted..Mini Bags for Small Bulk Items
Love this idea, and they turned out so doggone cute.
Roxanne @ Champion of My Heart recently posted..Two Stolen Malamutes Ukiah, California
Thanks! I used them today to get spices and it made me happy.
Kris @ Attainable Sustainable recently posted..Mini Bags for Small Bulk Items
Love this idea. It never made any sense to me to buy the spices in bulk and then put them into plastic bags!
Living Large recently posted..My Favorite Space Saving Gadgets at Our Little House
So brilliant. Although, yes, it’s weird to sew on the *right* side of the fabric initially, I see why it’s necessary!
Casey@Good. Food. Stories. recently posted..Parts is Parts: Embracing the Hot Dog
Do you ever get any grief for doing this at the store?
The supermarket here didn’t mind when I started using fabric produce bags, but the bulk store seems to think I’ll be trying it on as they won’t be able to see the contents easily. Despite the fact that they already have to check with me which bag is plaour flour, SR flour etc etc….
LOL that was meant to say “plain flour”
The bulk food from bins has numbers that the store requires customers to write on the twist ties. With that method, it’s not crucial for them to see what’s in the bag. I do have see through produce bags, though.
Luv, luv, love this idea! Especially for the produce bags! Always hate throwing them away, not having the slightest clue to how I can ‘recycle’. This cloth reusuable idea, is perfect! I plan to make ‘extra’ bags, enough for a full load of itself to throw in washer, when ready. And to use white vinegar in laundry for disinfectant and softener. Along with a handy spray bottle to spray more white vinegar before/after trips to the produce section. Thank you for helping me and others take a step closer in perserving and protecting our environment!
Yes, I’m already wishing I’d made more! Glad you’ve joined us, Jen.
Oh that’s a great idea. Our co-op lets us take our spice bottles in, so we just weigh the bottle and then weigh again after we fill it.
Jane Boursaw recently posted..Jane After Dark: Five Cool Things About Gilmore Girls
My store won’t weigh our bottles – so the reusable bag is the next best option.
I should whip up some of these. I doubt the folks at our Bin Inn bulk store would mind at all.
Super easy, Melanie. Plus, I like to think that when people see me using cute little bags, it makes them think.
What a clever idea, Kris. And cute, too. Makes so much sense, since using plastic bags is such a waste.
I had the same question as Sophie. I’ve noticed even with my reusable grocery bags some stores are good about it and others act perturbed.
I think all of our stores here offer a discount for bringing bags. The stores seem to encourage it, but individual checkers can be sourpusses about it. I just try to avoid those aisles.
Sigh! I gave away my sewing machine because it was just taking up space. Maybe you’d like to sell these?
I’ve never had any grocery store give me any grief about using my own bags.
I like the tip about washing the bags out with vinegar and spraying with vinegar to disinfect. Some spices have such a strong smell, that you’d have to keep using the same bag for the same spice, I would think.
I haven’t had any trouble with grocery stores complaining, either. And the health food store thinks it’s cool.
Love them. We have a jar exchange at the Co-op and you can always bring your own jars from home to put stuff in so I just re-use spice jars. I feel lucky to live in Ashland and to be able to shop a LITTLE more sustainably. (On that subject, can you please post about how to buy bread with no plastic? Here’s the problem: the local bakery which will just hand me loaves gets their flour not-organic and from FAR away. I do bake bread myself but in the summer I am less motivated to turn on the oven. Also, it falls apart and the kids don’t like that. Maybe the solution is to STOP eating bread?!)
Oh, the bread bags KILL me. I’ve been thinking about this very issue.
[...] 1 cup yellow mustard seeds (and yes, I bought mine in bulk and put them in my mini bags!) [...]
This is a great idea, i generally just pile all my single veggies in my trolley and give them to the check out person in loose piles which they probably dont like but it saves me on wasted bags so c’est la vie! My thought is tho, if i went to bin inns to buy stuff without using plastic and took my own cloth bags, then surely the bags are more likely to weigh more than plastic in which case the shop would be making an extra few cents out of me from the weight of the bag, in which case isnt that a good thing for them and a price we pay for being a pain in the bum?
I cant see how they’d have any room to complain at all!
My only worry is putting powdery things like flours and spices in there and loosing any of it.. Maybe i havent thought it through very hard or am being a bit stingy… Either way, a great idea and i am dead keen to try it. I also love the velcro sandwich bag idea i’ve seen around the place. Definately gonna have to source a sewing machine before i get anymore hippy styles
Having all these ideas around and not being able to act on them is killing me lol
Helen recently posted..Ahh man… now i need to try and find room for gourds!… HANG ON.. I got it!
I…
I did try flour in one of my really light bags – not such a good plan. I need to make some good sized ones out of cotton and I think they’ll be fine. That’s what flour used to come in; remember people talking about making clothes from flour sack cloth? That was back before we’d become such a disposable collection of people!
I had to laugh when you said your kids are horrified by your pink bags. Mine are pink too!!
I cut up old net curtains that I bought at the thrift store. I went looking for them and that day they happened to have pink. I think my boys are slightly horrified too.
Lynn