shopping bags

So I bought some oil cloth almost a year ago in hopes of making my own reusable shopping bags - you know so I don't have to continue to accumulate all those plastic shopping bags.  Amy had bought one in Canton that I really liked the size of.  She so graciously agreed to measure it for me.  I made four and learned some tricks with each.  These instructions include all the "best practices" I learned.  Based on the measurements Amy gave me I came up with this pattern (I had a 1 yard piece of fabric).

A - These are the two bigger sides and the pieces you sew the handles to

B - These are the two smaller sides

C - This is the bottom

D - These are the handles

This is very beginner sewing so if you've never sewn anything before you could totally do this - here's how.  Cut out the pieces according to the diagram above.  It should look something like this...

Sew the handle pieces (D) in thirds and fold under the raw edge.  Run a zigzag stitch down it.  Fold over each A and B piece 1.5 inches and then turn that under .5 inch.  Make sure to pin the handles in place before sewing.  I pinned them 1.5 inches from the edge of the A pieces.

Sew the smaller sides (B) to the bottom piece (C) making sure to put right sides together.

Sew the larger pieces (A) to the smaller pieces (B) and then sew the remaining pieces to the bottom.  Turn your new bag right side out and voila - you have a handy shopping bag ready for your next trip to the grocery store or Target or wherever you want to take them.

Since there's only two people to shop for in this household, I don't think I'll need all four in Texas so I've already placed two of them with the pile of stuff to go to Maine.