Here on the farm, we are always looking for new things to learn, make, or do. We look for new ways to recycle or up-scale things that we already have on hand. as we have many farm animals and pets, we use a lot of animal feed. One thing we always have around are feed bags. We use old feed bags for trash bags, in the garden for weed blocker, for hauling wood shavings and so many other things. We do our best NOT to use plastic bags at the store…and bag our own groceries (I hate my bread getting smashed and I despise chasing groceries around the back of the vehicle.). We always keep reusable totes in the car so when we go somewhere, we have bags on hand. I know the cashier thinks we are nuts when we ask them to not bag our stuff. We just put our stuff back into the buggy and put it into our own bags when we get to the car. It is just one small but significant way to go green. And you get the added fun of people looking at you funny when you walk out of the store with a buggy full of stuff that is not bagged.

We have recently started making our own reusable totes. We have made totes out of pillowcases, old shower curtains, and now feed bags. As we are already priming up for Christmas, we are looking for new and cool Christmas gifts for family and friends. Reusable totes are great gifts for people that have not embraced the green life. It is a way to start them in the right direction and it is not painful to them at all. We have made feed bag totes for our own use as well as for others. Recently feed bag totes were made as the gift bags for baby blankets to go to baby showers. This is a unique and totally reusable tote, people ooh and aah when they see them. The feed bag totes make great gifts for animal lovers, gardeners, and of course your local green life people. Anyone will appreciate your hand make artwork and the unique, one of a kind bag they get. If you can sew at all, you can re-purpose your feed bags into shopping bags. Every seam is a straight line…nothing fancy.

Important things to keep in mind before you start…

#1- make sure you clean your bags before you start sewing. The dust from the feed will gum up your sewing machine. I use Windex or Lysol spray and wipe them down.

#2-The woven plastic-type material is rough on the needle of your sewing machine and the thread. Make sure you have backup needles on hand and a thicker thread (stronger) than you normally use for regular clothes. The bags are rough on your scissors too.

#3-Do your best to cut straight…It sounds obvious but if you can’t cut a straight line-use a yardstick and a sharpie. (I have astigmatism…I couldn’t cut or draw a straight line if my life depended on it.)

#4-The “material” in the bags is tough to manipulate. I had to clean off the ENTIRE sewing table in order to “handle” the bags in order to sew them. Bags can be unruly so have enough space cleared to avoid frustration.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

1. Turn the bag wrong side out and clean the surfaces. You can safely use vinegar, Lysol, or Windex.

2. Cut the top and bottom of the bag. Save the top to make the handles. As much as we want to use “all parts”, there is nothing we have found to do with the leftover bottom of the bag.

3. To make the handles, cut the top side leftovers length-wise. Now you have two rings. Cut the rings into to make 2 long pieces.

4. Sewing your handles…Fold each handle one side over the other and stitch down the length of the handle.

5. Sewing your bag…(you can do either end first)…Fold the top over and stitch it down.

For the bottom, tuck in the sides and stitch it together.

6. Turn your bag right side out again.

7. Sewing the handles to the bag…place your handles where you want them and stitch the handle to the INSIDE of the bag. You will do that 4 times…sorry, it gets boring.  Make sure you do 4 separate lines, do not sew the sides closed.

Congratulations!

You have just sewn your first shopping bag. You can alter the size and shape and the length and placement of the handles. I have used a variety of materials: T-shirts that don’t fit or I just can’t let go, jeans, overalls, flour sacks, drapes or shower curtains, etc. You are limited only by your imagination and the ability of your sewing machine (some machines just aren’t up to the task).

Poultry feed bag to grocery bag.

Baby Chick feed bag to new baby bag.

Recycling unusual materials into bags gives new life to “used” items. They make great gift bags and save on using plastics when shopping. As we have mentioned before we try to be as green and eco-friendly as possible here on the farm so we avoid plastic when we can. These up-cycled bags won’t break like plastic bags either. They aren’t indestructible, but they sure are tough! And of course, these feed bags have all the cute farm animal pictures. If you want to reuse your pet feed bags, you can have dogs and cats on your totes as well. Enjoy being creative and practical at the same time.

Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition on Out Standing in the Field.