Bags again

Seems like with my sewing I always come back to the same thing: bags. I was dropping some off at the co-op the other day and the cashier said to me, "Oh yeah, you're the bag lady." Not exactly the stature I was shooting for in life, but I'll take it. It's kind of accurate.

[OK side note. When I was working for a consulting firm in Cleveland, we did smoke testing in the neighborhoods adjacent to the city. We had an issue in Viola's house in Mayfield Heights so we had to go in and check it out. At this point, Viola (a sweet, crackly old woman with a house that smells of cabbage) says to me, "So you want to be a sewer lady??" and I decide on a change in career...]

Back to bags. I make bags. All kinds of bags: lunch bags, snack bags, tote bags, grocery bags, shoulder bags... and now, produce bags! I've been wanting to make these for some time. My first attempt used an unbleached cheesecloth, and, while airy, was totally unruly to sew. They looked like crap and weren't much easier to use. The cashier at Valle's gave me a couple raised eyebrows when I produced my produce in said bags for scanning. Huh, he said. Well, I guess I would have too. So I made these:

I used organic cotton leno from Near Sea Naturals and a little swatch of some cotton fruit fabric to embellish. The leno is stiff enough to sew well, but super gauzy and hole-y so I can get some nice air flow. I'm happy with how they turned out and am going to try to make some more. I may even put some up on Etsy.

I also did a couple more snack bags, which we have been using heaps lately. They are extraordinarily fast to make so they're one of the few projects I can start and finish after Oliver's gone to bed. It's good to have a couple of those up my sleeve, or in the bag, as the case may be.