Eco-Friendly Shopping Tote for Dog Lovers

Today I started my day, taking Antonio, my pooch, for a walk. We headed over to the nearby Pathmark cause he was completely out of dog good. I tied him up in a pretty secure place in the back that not too many people know about at the Back Entrance of the Patchmark. I only do this when I know I can run in and run out and since it was about 8am, I knew he would be okay for the 8 minutes it would take me to run in and grab dog food and pay.

We walked back home, with a big bag of dog food in hand & Antonio happily anticipating his breakfast. As he ate and I checked my email, I came across this great tutorial for how to turn that bag of dog food (after it's empty) into an eco-friendly grocery shopper. And here it is, courtesy of the Sewing Savvy Newsletter.

Supplies

• Dog-food bag -- 20 lbs or larger
• 1 1/2 yards of nylon webbing
• Four 1 1/2-inch buttons
• Embroidery thread and needle
• Rotary cutter, mat and ruler
• Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies
• Flower-shaped paper punch or die-cut machine and flower-shaped die (optional)
• Washcloth and soapy water to wipe wrong side of bag

Instructions

1. Remove as many crumbs from the bag as possible. Cut off the top and bottom of the bag using the rotary cutter, mat and ruler.
2. Turn the bag wrong side out and use the washcloth and soapy water to wipe the wrong side of the bag; let dry.
3. Open the side folds of the bag and sew the bottom edge of the bag closed.
4. Fold up the bottom edge of the bag, centering the seam line, and box the corners of the bag by measuring in 3 inches from the corner of each point and marking the sewing line with the ruler and pencil. Sew along the marked line.
5. Turn over the top edge of the bag 2 inches, and then again 3 inches and press using a press cloth and an iron set on the cotton setting. Sew next to the folded edge through all layers of the bag.
6. Cut the webbing in two equal lengths and zigzag-stitch across the ends to prevent fraying.
7. Mark the placement of the webbing handles along the inside edge of the bag approximately 2 inches down from the top edge of the bag.
8. Use a zigzag stitch to attach each of the handle ends to the bag.
9. Turn the bag right side out, carefully pushing out each of the bottom corners of the bag.
10. Use the embroidery thread and needle to sew buttons through the bag and webbing, covering the stitching lines of the handles.
11. Cut out a flower using the punch or the die cut machine and attach to the front of the bag with a button. This step is optional.