Cute Reusable Bag Pattern - Free

I had some small pieces of fabric left over from other projects and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them. However, when I saw this free market bag pattern from Stitch Upon A Time, I knew I had found the perfect project for my scraps.

Photo Credit - Stitch Upon A Time

Come on, how cute is that? I downloaded the PDF pattern and printed it. By the way, let me stop here. PDF patterns ... have you heard of them? They seem to be all the rage with those who sew. Cheaper than patterns, many times free, lots of options, just a great idea all around. This was my first PDF to make, though I have a few on my computer waiting to be used.

Back to the story. It said it could be made in 30 - 60 minutes. They weren't lying. If you add in the time it took me to tape the pattern together, it was just at 30 minutes total. The best part is, now that I have the pattern together, I can skip that on all future bags. Yes, there will be more made.

The best part is, I finally, finally, FINALLY got to use my new serger. I will admit to being a bit intimidated by it. But, I figured a bag was about as basic as you could get and, if I messed it up, big deal. I didn't mess it up. Don't let that scare you off if you don't have a serger. You can totally do this with a regular sewing machine. You will notice red and yellow thread. My serger came with thread already loaded and I didn't feel like rethreading the machine. Since it doesn't show, I just used the 4 colors that came with it. As my younger son said, "that's a good idea Mom, free thread".

How cute is this? I made one of my jeans to skirts out of this fabric and has almost exactly how much I needed left. The tiny piece I had left over is now in my scrap bin and will be used for something cute once I get enough collected. 

I could't be boring and just have that floral print. Inside is a coordinating color. You could EASILY make this reversible with just a bit of forethought on how you put your handles together. That's the only part that shows any seams. 

This bag is a lot sturdier than I thought it would be, especially since this is just a cotton fabric. I will be making more of these with non-scrap fabric. My Walmart is having a big sale on fabric right now and I just happened to see a cute pink bolt that was thicker and would make a wonderful bag (or three).