3-Seam Plastic Bag Holder {Tutorial}

How many of you have a plastic bag collection that looks like this???

Yeah...embarrassing, and  taking up space in my pantry floor. I use green bags at the grocery store, but every now and then I end up with a plastic bag coming home with me. I keep them and try to reuse them, but storing them was unsightly. So I needed a new plan...a bag holder. This little baby has only 3 seams (not including the strap) and will hold 10-15 plastic bags.

Materials:

Cotton, quilting or home decor weigh cut to 15"x18"

Elastic cut to 10" ( I used 1/2" wide, but you can use what you have)

A strap-use ribbon, or cut a piece of your fabric to 3"x18"

Sewing things

(Sure, I could have ironed my fabric before taking pictures, but I was impatiently wanting to organize. Ironing can wait.)

Take your large piece of fabric and finish the long edges first. For the top edge: turn the edge under 1/4" then another 1/4" and sew.

For the bottom, this will be a casing for your elastic. Turn the bottom up enough to fit your elastic, then turn the edge under 1/4" to hid the raw edge. Sew these two hems.

If you are making your strap from fabric, fold it in half long ways, then fold the outside edges in to the middle, This will give you a sturdy strap with no raw edges. Sew down both long edges to finish the strap.

Using a safety pin or other tool, insert your elastic into your casing. Securely sew the edges of the elastic to the edges of your fabric. 

Decide where you want your straps to go on your bag. I put my straps halfway between the edge and the middle of the rectangle that will be my bag. Remember, the bag is still flat so you can easily measure where your straps need to go if you want!

Secure the straps to the bag with a straight stitch, or make it fancy and sew a box of stitches around the bottom of the strap.

Now, fold your rectangle right sides together, and sew the main seam. Use a large zig zag stitch to finish the edges if you like.

Now, turn your bag right side out, and stuff with your bags! The elastic bottom allows you to remove the oldest bags, and the open top allows you to add new ones easily.

Hang it from your closet door, or a hook in your pantry for easy access. Now your bags are neat, off the floor, and discrete!