We're all trying to be a little more earth-friendly these days, in any small ways we can. Did you know over a million plastic bags are consumed per minute, worldwide? You might already use reusable grocery bags when you go to the store, but how about those plastic produce bags? Here's a solution that is cheap, practical, and cute! Customize some drawstring mesh bags from the dollar store to use as reusable bags for your fruits and veggies.

The bags are already made and come in packs of four, so if you just want to use them as-is, they are a really inexpensive solution. I like to craft it up, though (and admit it, you do too, which is why you're reading this right now!), so I wanted to add a strip of cute fabric to my mesh bag to dress it up a little bit. Can you believe I found this veggie -printed fabric in my stash? This is an ideal project for stashbusting because you only need a small strip of fabric.

Project Estimate:

• Mesh bag, $.25
• Strip of scrap fabric, on hand
• Sewing machine & thread, on hand

Total: $.25

If you can't find these readymade mesh bags at the dollar store (I found mine in the cleaning supplies section), you can follow my instructions for making a loot bag to make your own. Just use a see-through fabric for produce bags so your grocery store checker can easily see your veggies and ring them up without hassle.

To Make:

1. Open up a mesh bag and lay it out on your work surface. Cut a piece of scrap fabric to fit the bottom of the bag (leave the fabric extending about a half inch on each side, for seam allowance.

2. Cut the bottom seam off the mesh bag.

3. Cut up side seams from bottom of bag to the top of where the scrap fabric lies (about three inches, in my case).

4. Lay scrap fabric right side down against outside of produce bag (I laid mine about two and a half inches from the bottom of the mesh bag). Sew across the edge closest to the bottom of the bag.

5. Flip fabric down so right side is facing outward.

6. Topstitch mesh to scrap fabric to reinforce. This is optional, but I did it to make it look nicer, and also because I don't want one of these bags to break open at an inopportune time, so the extra reinforcement is a good idea.

7. Speaking of reinforcement, you're going to do "french seams" to finish the bag, for extra reinforcement. Keep the bag right-side out, and sew the scrap fabric to the back panel of mesh (you should be sewing around the sides and the bottom of the bag to close it up).

Turn it inside-out, making sure corners are turned all the way out (use a pointy device like a chopstick to make sure they're turned out... this photo shows a corner before it's pointy). Sew around the already-sewn edges of the scrap fabric and the mesh. Make sure the mesh is completely sewn closed.

Your bag is done! Now you have a cute and eco-friendly bag to use to bag your fruits and veggies! Now go put it in the car so you don't forget it when you go to the store!

This post sponsored by:
Fabric.com Coupon Corner