Calico Shopping Bag!
...a Re-usable Calico Shopping Bag!
Hi there everyone!
I'm so excited to show you this weeks project as I'm really happy with how it turned out! Before we get into it, I just wanted to show you my recent find this week! Whilst looking for inspiration, I stumbled across DMC's free embroidery pattern section! There are so many cute patterns to choose from, I may have downloaded one...or ten for myself!
On with this week! I've taken a bit of inspo from a couple weeks ago and decided to continue on with a little more embroidery, but this time, putting it on to something I've made!
I'm all for reusable bags, but some of them are a little boring! So what better than to make one yourself! To make your bag, you'll need 1m of calico and some embroidery threads!
Another thing that really annoys me about the shoppers you can buy is that they're often too small, and the straps aren't big enough to fit over the shoulder, so to fix that issue, I've obviously gone for a bigger size, plus longer and thicker straps!
Once you've cut out your main bag piece, on one side sew your clean hem, I took this opportunity to test out my twin needle, and I am obsessed, it looks so good!
Next cut some long strips of calico, fold in half longways and press to fold flat. 
Then, you're going to pin the raw edge of the long strips around the outside edges in a pleat all the way around. The folded edge should be pointing towards the centre of the fabric, like the image below.
Once you've gone all the way around, it should look like this!
Sew around the edge of the bag to secure the pleats, this makes it easier to then attach the other side of the bag.
Right sides together, sew around the edge so that once you've done that and turned the bag right sides out, it's time to add the handles. Cut the lengths you want for the shoulder straps, double the width you want, plus a 1/4 inch seam allowance on both sides. Sew along the raw edge then turn out to the right side.
Then, find the place you want your handles to be. I folded the bag in half then matched each side to keep them symmetrical.
To keep the handles on firmly, I used a square and cross stitch pattern.
Thats the bag done! Now to the embellishments! I went for a fruit theme! Using images from pinterest as inspiration I created watermelons, bananas, grapefruits, a kiwi and a lemon! To make sure they were in the right place, I did a rough sketch of the shapes first and used a variety of stitches.
That's it done! So simple, yet so pretty, I'm ready to go shopping so I can show off my new bag!
I hope you all have a lovely week, and I'll see you again next week for another post!
