Solving the Plastic Bag Dilemma

Do you have a wadded up cluster of plastic bags from grocery and clothing stores that look like a mess in your house or apartment? haus2home is not a place to judge, so I will be the first to say that I do. Well, at least I did until this past weekend when I decided to tackle another DIY project. This time, it was to turn that plastic bag problem into an eco-friendly solution; a plastic bag dispenser.

My inspiration came from an e-mail I received from a company advertising their plastic plastic bag dispenser. It looks like this and runs at about $20. Is it just me or does it seem a little redundant to spend $20 on a plastic item to store plastic bags you get for free?

So naturally all this brought me to Pinterest where I found an awesome tutorial on how to make a fabric plastic bag dispenser. Here is my version of the tutorial.

To do this project, you will need:

3 pieces of coordinating fabric: -one 22″ x 20″ for the middle & -two 22″ x 5″ the ends. I bought a reminant piece at my local craft store for $1.30 and then matched a printed quilters fabric sqaure with it. Total I spent $3.40 on fabric.
1/2 inch elastic cut into 2 pieces: -one 10″ (top opening) & -one 7″ (bottom opening)
12 inches of matching ribbon or extra fabric

sewing machine
scissors/fabric cutters
pins and thread
one safety pin

Here’s how to make your diy plastic bag dispenser in just about an hour!

Cut your three pieces of fabric to the correct sizes. You will want one piece to be 22″ x 20″ and the other two pieces to be 22″ x 5″
Cut your elastic pieces to the correct sizes. You will want them to be 7″ and 10″.
Place the two smaller strips on fabric wrong side up on the larger piece. Make sure that the 22” sides are together and pin them along the edges.
Sew your two strips to the larger (22×20) piece of fabric.
You should now have one piece of fabric all sewn together! Now on the 22″ sides, measure and pin for a casing one inch wide. This will house your elastic towards the end of the project. If you have other sized elastic larger or smaller than ½ inch, just make the casing big enough to thread your elastic through. Once you have both ends pinned, sew away!
Now you can sew the other sides together so it forms a long tube. Make sure you sew it wrong side up so you can flip it inside out once you have it sewed. IMPORTANT tip: Do not sew together where the elastic goes, you still have to put it in!
Now flip the project inside out so the right side of the fabric is facing out.
Thread elastic through the casing on both ends. I found it helped to use a safety pin to help thread it through. Once you have the elastic though it helps to pin it before sewing so you don’t lose it. They meant it when they named it elastic! Now sew!
At this point, you have 95% of the project complete! Now, you will need to sew in your matching ribbon for something to hang it with. I decided to use extra fabric that I had leftover. Make sure the top end is the one witht he 10 inch piece of elastic. You will want the smaller end on bottom for better use.
Viola! You are done! Now you have a stylish way to house all those plastic bags!