Sew a reusable fabric produce bag for shopping

Why sew your own produce bags

A drawstring produce bag is one of the most satisfying things you can make on a sewing machine. It takes about twenty minutes, uses scraps of fabric you probably already have, and replaces a habit that quietly fills the kitchen drawer with flimsy plastic. Loose apples, onions, carrots, mushrooms, rice, lentils, oats, nuts — all of it can travel home in cotton instead.

The real advantage of sewing your own is fit. Shop-bought bags are often one awkward size, too big for a handful of shallots and too small for a cabbage. When you make them yourself, you can run up a small bag for garlic, a medium one for fruit and a taller, finer one for grains, all from the same afternoon's work.

Choose fabric that will last

Lightweight cotton is exactly right. Look for something around 100–140 gsm (grams per square metre): cotton lawn, poplin, lightweight calico, or a well-worn cotton bed sheet or pillowcase. These fabrics are strong, breathe well (important for damp vegetables) and wash hot without falling apart.

• Avoid polyester and polycotton blends. They don't breathe, so greens sweat and wilt, and they hold onto smells.
• Avoid heavy canvas or upholstery weight. The bag itself adds grams at the till and takes an age to dry.
• Pre-wash everything first. Untreated cotton can shrink by 5–10 per cent, and you want that shrinking done before you cut.
• Skip anything with a loose, open weave for grains — you'll be picking rice off the floor.

What you need to get started

• Two rectangles of pre-washed lightweight cotton, cut to your chosen size
• Matching cotton thread (polyester thread on cotton fabric can pucker when pressed)
• A sewing machine set to a straight stitch, around 2.5mm
• 60cm of cotton cord, tape or ribbon, about 5–10mm wide
• A large safety pin for threading the drawstring
• An iron and pressing board — pressing matters more than speed here
• Fabric pen or tailor's chalk, a ruler, pins or clips

For a medium fruit and veg bag, cut two rectangles 30cm wide by 40cm tall. For a small bag, try 20cm by 25cm.

Sewing the bag, step by step

Sew the sides with a French seam. Place the two rectangles wrong sides together and stitch down both long sides and across the bottom with a 5mm seam allowance. Trim the seam allowances to about 3mm, turn the bag inside out, press the seams flat, then stitch again 5mm from the edge. This encloses the raw edges completely, so there is nothing to fray and no overlocker required.

Box the bottom if you want a flat base. With the bag still inside out, pinch each bottom corner so the side seam sits centred on the fold, forming a small triangle. Measure 4cm across the triangle, stitch straight across and trim the excess to 1cm. Do the same at the other corner. The bag will now stand up on the counter instead of flopping over.

Make the drawstring casing. Press the top edge under by 1cm, then fold it down by 3cm and press again. Stitch close to the lower folded edge all the way around, stopping about 4cm short of where you began so you leave a gap. Backstitch at both ends of the gap for strength.

Thread the cord. Attach the safety pin to one end of the cord and feed it through the casing, working it around until it emerges from the gap. Pull both ends level, tie them with a firm overhand knot and trim. A small knot on each cut end stops the cord from slipping back through the casing.

Fine details for grains and bulk bins

Grains, flour and pulses need a tighter weave than vegetables do. Choose a closer cotton poplin or make the bag double-layered, and use the smaller 20cm by 25cm size — that holds roughly 500g of rice comfortably without straining the seams. A boxed base is worth the extra five minutes here, because a flat-bottomed bag sits steady in a shopping trolley and pours neatly at home.

For herbs and salad, make a slightly wider bag and leave the base unboxed. For a family shop, sew five or six medium bags in one sitting, threading them up as a batch — it's far quicker than setting the machine up repeatedly.

Weighing, washing and keeping them going

Weigh each finished bag on the kitchen scales and write the figure on the casing with a fabric pen: most medium cotton bags come in somewhere between 15g and 30g. Loose produce is sold by weight, so knowing your tare weight matters. Many shop assistants will happily deduct it if you mention it at the till, and a clear number written on the bag saves a conversation.

Wash your bags at 30–40°C with the rest of the laundry and air dry them. Skip fabric conditioner, which coats the fibres, and avoid the tumble dryer if you can — heat and tumbling wear cotton out faster than anything else. A hot wash every few months keeps them fresh after a damp bunch of spinach.

Keep a rolled-up bundle in your handbag, the car boot and by the front door so they're actually there when you need them. Mend small tears as they appear with a few running stitches, and a set of cotton bags will quietly outlast dozens of plastic ones — getting softer and more useful with every wash.