Pretty Up Your Shopping Bags

Why would I remember to take boring shopping bags to the supermarket? But I don't think I could forget these customized pretty grocery bags.

The reusable bags that you can buy at the check out are so uninspiring. No wonder I'm one of the huge number of people who forget to take their reusable bags grocery shopping, since Australia went single use plastic bag free.

But, I have found a way that will make me want to have them with me. I've prettied them up with some patchwork fabric from my stash. If you want to see how I did it read on.

You'll need some fabric that you love, cotton is a good choice because it's not stretchy and has a bit of stiffness to it. As I said, I used fat quarter fabric but for non quilters that is just a small piece of pre-cut craft fabric that is a quarter of a yard.

Supermarket bags like the ones in the picture.

​A low temp hot glue gun and at least four glue stick refills.

I only covered one side of the bag, where it had the big writing but you could do both sides if you wish, just remember you'll need more fabric. I put the fabric over the bag and cut around leaving an extra ​ 1/4 to 1/2 inch or 1 cm all round for folding under the raw edges

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I turned under the edges and hot glued it to the face of the bag. I began gluing the middle section at the top of the bag and then the outer edges just back from the corner. Then I went and filled in the between spaces. This made it easy to get an even line of fabric. After that I worked on the sides

I glued the corners last. Before gluing the bottom down I put my glue gun under the faric and ran a line of glue down the centre of the bag from the top to the bottom and then finished gluing the bottom closed.
I kept getting the odd hot finger but using a low temp gun meant it didn't burn me. You could use some cardboard of the end of a pen to hold the fabric down instead. A little bit of glue smeared  onto the green bag but it rubbed away when dry. 

For anyone who likes needle work, the fabric on these bags could be sewn into place using an applique stitch. A patchwork block would be gorgeous and could even be quilted with some wadding placed underneath the fabric. 

So next time I go to the supermarket I will be using these pretties. How could I forget them now?

Dora Bramden writes contemporary romance and loves making life as romantic as possible. Even her shopping bags!
To find out about Dora's books click here.