bird seed grocery bag
i’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for some kind of reusable grocery bags that tickled my fancy, but haven’t seen any that i liked enough to actually buy. i just fed the birds the last of the giant bag of bird seed and i was marveling at the fine strength and durability of the 40 lb bird seed bag, and i thought to myself, now this would make a great grocery bag! and it does!
it was really easy to make, after only about 10 minutes of figurin’ and a half hour of cutting and sewing i was finished. i modeled it after the size and shape of a paper grocery bag and used your typical canvas tote bag construction. i stitched the creases so it would stand up and stay open on its own. the bird seed bag is a little narrower than a paper bag, so i made mine a little bit taller to make up the cubic inches of grocery space. mine is 17″x5.5″x12″ (a standard paper bag is 14″x6.5″x12″) the material is some kind of super strong woven plastic with a glossy laminate over it. it was a little slippery in the sewing machine, but once i got the hang of it it was no problem. as long as my stitching holds up, i think this bag might last longer than me! okay, i’m off to go buy another giant bag of bird seed.
May 27th, 2007 at 5:55 am
HOW cool! I love recycling stuff, and this is one of the niftiest re-purposings i have ever seen! great work!!!!! :)
May 27th, 2007 at 9:32 am
thanks amanda! i can’t wait to make a few more. i hope those birds are hungry!
June 1st, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Wow, that is a *brilliant* idea! It ought to last ages and ages, too.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:53 pm
what a simple but fantastic idea
June 6th, 2007 at 2:01 am
The grocery bag looks very original. Nice.
Clara
June 24th, 2007 at 6:47 am
That is SUPER awesome! I love it! What thread did you use? Just standard cotton thread or upolstery thread?
June 24th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
thanks angie! i used regular thread but on the next one i make i will use a heavier weight thread.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
craftster is having a shopping bag challenge–the birdseed bag would do great!
August 12th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
I am an avid recycler and I love what you have done with the bird seed bag. If you don’t mind I might try and make one of my own. Going to hunt around for interesting strong bags.
August 28th, 2007 at 4:18 am
What a cool idea – we don’t have many heavy packaging bags here in the UK but you have inspired me to get out and have a look!
August 28th, 2007 at 6:15 am
Thanks for the brain stretch! I always hate throwing those sturdy, perfectly good bags straight into the trash, with hardly any wear on them. Now I’ll wear them out.
August 28th, 2007 at 7:46 am
Hey, I made one too, several weeks ago. I made a shorter bag with longer handles to go over the shoulder:
http://www.curbly.com/stephee/posts/2064-Make-a-bird-seed-bag-grocery-tote-
You’re right about that material – it’s a bit hard to work with, but worth it. :)
August 28th, 2007 at 11:13 am
what a great bag steph, i love the graphic! i will have to look for those sunflower seeds for my next one!
August 28th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
This is such a great idea, it’s really got me thinking about materials for recycled bags. Thanks alot!
September 8th, 2007 at 8:06 am
great idea, and it does look really sturdy.
October 8th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Sweet! Love it
January 31st, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Been dying to make one of these bags but my pet food bags aren’t as durable.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:59 pm
How did you box off the bottom? Did you stitch creases there, too? I’m dying to try this now! These are going to make awesome Christmas presents!
March 21st, 2008 at 6:12 pm
i stitched creases in the bottom too. i found these tote bag instructions online http://www.make-it-easy.com/opentot2.html if you scroll down it shows how to square off the bottom, then turn it right side out and topstitch it. the measurements will be differnet if you are using a birdseed bag, just fool around with it until you find the dimensions you like and then sew it. the good thing about the birdseed bags is you don’t need to sew the side seams, it’s already done for you!