DIY Reusable Produce Bag – Journey to Zero Waste Series – Free tutorial

One of the things I always cringe at in the grocery store is the plastic produce bags.  They just seem so utterly wasteful, and yet, I know it makes life so much more difficult for the cashier when my produce rolls freely down the belt with no way of easily pulling all items with the same SKU at once.  To solve this problem, I created this DIY reusable produce bag.

I have seen plenty of reusable produce bags for sale.  If you do not want to make your own, they are a great option.  I however, wanted to not only make something instead of buy it, I also wanted to upcycle the plastic mesh bags we were bringing home from the grocery store on a regular basis.  (The grocery store we used to frequent in Arizona would sell seconds produce – ugly produce or items that needed to be used within a day – in these mesh bags for 99 cents. I got a lot of our produce this way!)

Aside from a needle and thread, this is ally you need to make these bags!

Not only does this reusable produce bag replace plastic every time I go to the grocery store, it is also upcycled from material that would otherwise be thrown out.  The stores in our area do not have a tare option for bringing your own containers, but this bag weighs just ¼ of an ounce, that is 1/64th of a pound – and I’m willing to pay the few pennies it adds to avoid the plastic!

As you might have read in earlier posts (here, here, and here), I am on a very long journey toward living a zero waste lifestyle.  While there are certain limitations which prevent me from fully adopting zero waste, I work hard to make the little changes where I can to keep walking down that path.  These bags are part of that process. I tuck them into my reusable grocery bags which are always in my purse – when I go to the grocery store, I am always ready to pull one of these out to bag any type of produce that catches my eye!

Convinced?  I hope so – here’s how to make your own.

DIY Reusable Produce Bag Materials

I use my sewing machine to make these bags.  You could absolutely do this with hand sewing, just be aware it will take a little longer to create each bag and you will need to be sure you fully secure the mesh bag in the fabric ends.  

Gather your materials:

• Plastic mesh produce bag – you might be surprised to realize how much produce is already sold in these mesh bags when you start to pay attention – save a few from oranges, potatoes, avocados, or anything else they come in.
• Lightweight fabric – 4½” x 2½” and 17½” x 2½” – one of each dimension per bag
• Thin ribbon – 25”
• Needle and thread (even if you use a machine there is a little hand sewing

Assembling your bags

Here are the fabric top and bottom strips ironed and ready to be pinned on the mesh bag. I upcycled a pair of cotton pj bottoms – the fabric had become so thin they ripped every time they went into the washing machine, making it the perfect lightweight fabric for these bags!

Using an iron temperature appropriate for your fabric, turn under all edges by ¼” and iron the folds.  Next, fold each fabric strip in half along the long edge and iron again.  

If your plastic mesh bag has any tags or labels on it, cut these off.  If the bottom is melted shut, leave it as is, and skip this step of closing the bottom.  The shorter fabric is for the bottom of your bag. If your plastic mesh bag has a narrower end, you will want to use this for the bottom.  Bunching up the mesh on the bottom edge of your produce bag, tuck it into the long edge of the fabric strip so it is enclosed in the fabric bottom piece.  Pin in place.

Using a relatively short stitch length, sew around all three open ends of the fabric bottom edging for your produce bag, ensuring you have fully enclosed all loose ends of the mesh produce bag.  Tie off and trim your loose thread ends.

This is what the bags will look like with the fabric strips pinned in place, top on the left, bottom on the right.

Moving to the top of the produce bag, pick-up your longer strip of fabric.  Open the mesh bag, and place the open long edge of the fabric over the open edge of the bag.  Starting at one end of the fabric strip, begin to pin down the fabric, enclosing the mesh bag edge.  The plastic mesh will stretch or scrunch down as needed, try to ensure you have it evenly distributed while still bringing both of the short edges of the fabric strip to meet.

Sew along only the long edge of the fabric strip, again making sure you have fully enclosed all loose mesh ends.  Tie off and trim your loose thread ends.

On the left is what the top will look like after feeding through your ribbon. One the right is the short edges sewn up.

Tie a knot in one end of the ribbon.  Using a safety pin inserted into the knot, thread the ribbon through the pocket created by the long fabric strip (this is why you left the short ends open).  Once the ribbon is threaded all the way through, knot the two ends together, creating a loop.  

Starting at the seam on the long edge, hand sew the short edges closed as follows.  Attach the two outside short edges together and then the two inside short edges together.  Be sure to leave enough open room for the ribbon to slide freely.

Your produce bag is done and you are ready to go!

Using your reusable produce bag

The ribbon will allow you to tightly cinch your bag shut.  Once it is filled with produce, you can tie a slip knot in the ribbon to ensure it will stay shut while still being easy to reopen.  I don’t always do this, but it can help if you are adding lots of smaller items (like brussel sprouts or mushrooms) to make sure you don’t have a spill.

The cashier’s are frequently confused by these bags.  Especially if you upcycle a plastic mesh bag that is something they frequently see through the checkout line.  They search for a bar code on your bag to scan. I try to pay attention as the first bag comes through to notify the cashier that I am using my own bags and save them the confusion.

I frequently leave my produce in these after I get them home, using them to help organize things in the fridge.  Be aware that you will need more bags than you think if you do this as well since there will always be a few bags holding that last onion or apple and you won’t have them when you next go shopping.  If you carry reusable grocery bags with you, just tuck several of these reusable produce bags into them so you are ready when you go to the grocery store.

Hoping this helps you take one more step down your path to zero waste!