ONE MINUTE MARKET BAG

This bag will literally take you one minute to make, although I'm going to give additional steps that will add both time and features or options to your market bag.

The one-minute version takes one tank top. I've grabbed one, basically at random, from my pile of tees and tanks.



The bag starts here




Turn the shirt inside out and stitch the bottom edges together, being careful not to stretch the fabric.

Turn it right side out. You're done! You now have a bag to can take to the store. It's strong, more or less capacious, depending on the size of the shirt you choose, and even has handles like the plastic bags the stores have, so you can hang it on the bag holders to fill it.

Did someone say something about wanting a flat bottom on the bag? In that case, keep the tee-bag inside out. Clip the side seams to your line of stitching across the bottom, so that you can lay your bottom seam flat, like so:



Centered seam


Lay it out carefully, so that the seam is centered on the point of a right triangle at each end. Cut two right triangles from paper (or one that you'll use twice). The hypotenuse (long side) should be as long as the width of the bottom you'd like to create. Pin the triangles to each end of the bottom seam.



Pattern in place


Stitch close to the pattern, and unpin.



No need to cut


Now your bag has a flat bottom, but it isn't very sturdy, so measure it and cut a piece of cardboard to fit.



Isn't this pretty cardboard? Almost hated to use it!


Drop the cardboard into the bag, fitting the points of the corners into the points of the bag bottom.



Done!

Hmmm. When I look at that photo, I see a tank top on a hanger! Better show the bag with something in it, huh? In this case, it's holding three pounds of coffee beans, a large can of baked beans, and a bottle of spray cleaner, with, I might add, plenty of room to spare.



Holding plenty, and still room for more

I promised options, with an "s". No pictures, but here are more:

• Use a tee-shirt, rather than a tank top. Cut the sleeves off, and also the ribbing at the neck. Proceed as though you'd started with a tank. If you like, you can turn the edges of the "handles" under, to meet in the middle, and tack in place. No need to hem the edges though, as the jersey won't ravel.





• OR use a tee, cut the sleeves off and sew the sides up all the way to the shoulders. Leave the ribbing for the neck, slitting it at one shoulder and thread a cord through for a drawstring. You can also slit it twice, at each shoulder seam, and make a double drawstring.
  

The extra large tees make great laundry bags. We always pack one to hang on a doorknob when we visit Mom or go traveling in the RV. They'd be really good for a student's dorm room, too.