Last updated on April 24th, 2024 at 12:43 am
Recycle a large dog food bag and make yourself a roomy shopping tote in three easy steps.
Here’s a different kind of doggie bag – it’s a very sturdy tote, recycled from a large-sized dog food bag, that is perfect for shopping excursions when you expect to bring home a lot more than leftovers.
Hand wash the bags with soapy water, then rinse and dry thoroughly before beginning this project.
By Beverly Watkins
You Will Need:
- 50lb dog food bag with strong sides (emptied and thoroughly cleaned on the inside)
- sewing machine
- strong sewing thread
- scissors
How to Make a Shopping Tote from a Dog Food Bag
1. Cut straight across the top of the bag, at the height that you want for your tote bag. Fold over a 1/4 inch hem and sew with a zigzag stitch all around.
2. Cut two strips, each three inches wide, from the scrapped part of the bag. Fold over the first strip, lengthwise, then fold again. Sew together with zigzag stitch, all along the length of the strip, to make a handle.
Repeat with the other three inch strip to make a second handle to match the first one.
3. Decide where you want to position the ends of each handle and mark the bag on the inside. Sew each end of the handles to the top of the bag, zigzagging back and forth to create a strong, unbreakable bond.
This is an eye-catching recycling project that is sure to get comments as you pack your shopping in a doggie bag. Maybe your tote will inspire someone else to make their own. Or, if you don’t have doggie bags but have some jeans that have seen better days, why not construct this Memory Blue Jean Tote from recycled blue jeans.
If you know how to crochet, you may also like the magical, never-ending crocheted shopping bag in bobble stitch. It expands like magic as you add your shopping and bounces back to its original shape when you empty it.
Recycling dog dry food bags is nice, but how about adding pockets inside? I have a couple of these bags with pockets inside. They are wonderful going to bazaars and craft fairs with. I would love to have one as a tote bag or purse. Is there a pattern for such a thing
I like the idea of adding pockets on the inside and it reminded me of this blue jean tote bag project: https://www.allfreecrafts.com/recycling/denim/memory-blue-jean-tote/ because, about halfway down the post, there’s a photo of the denim bag turned inside out. Pockets taken from more discarded jeans were used there.
I think you could hem around a rectangle of another recycled dog food and then sew it inside the bag in a similar way. Thanks for the idea!