Make a 15 minutes bag (to fill your entire wet market purchase)

Our first blog features one of our favorite piece that can be very easy to make for beginners. This PU large tote bag has served me for many grocery trips and is still very useful! It's large and also deep enough for standing plants like the Dracaena Sanderiana.  If you haven't sewn before, don't worry because everyone starts somewhere. You only need a pair of good cutting scissors, basic sewing machine (you could also do this by hand if there is no sewing machine), thread, ruler and a marking pen. The idea is to use materials that you can find already at home. They could be materials, shirts, anything. For a less waste lifestyle, we see materials out of items at home and use them to create. That way, we don't discard materials or leave them sitting and get to use the most out of what we already have, essentially extending their lifespan.

**Note that if you do this by hand, it would take longer than 15 minutes and will be needing little bit more patience! Also note that because we are using PU leather, a lot of steps have been shortened because this material does not fray. If your are using thinner fabrics or fabrics that might fray, the process will be slightly different.

This is a very simple way to start yourself off sewing. For us, we had PU, which is synthetic leather, that has been sitting around for a long time and we are using that so we are not getting new fabric to create this.

We like our grocery bag large and square. So we cut them into 50cm by 50cm square. Feel free to play around with the sizing of your bag.

Place the right (patterned) side of the fabric facing each other. The wrong side facing outwards, join three sides of the bag with plate marking of the sewing machine at 1/2". If you are sewing by hand, mark out 1/2" and handsew a straight line.

Cut out tiny triangles from both bottom corners.

Flip them inside out. Cut out shoulder strap of preferred length depending on where you like your bag to sit. Attach strap to bag securely. Sewing a square with a cross helps to lock better. This is also attainable with hand sewing technique.

We would like to see your creations! If this article inspired or helped in anyway, do let us know so we can think of more stuff like these to share! Our other tip sharing for a more mindful lifestyle is available on our IG Handle under [Tips] highlights.

Difficulty Level: Easy