crusader

i've got a new item in the shop --- reusable produce bags.

another product created by my intense disgust of wasteful plastic use! as i said in my etsy listings for these, i've been using tote bags for many many years, and i'm pretty crazy about it. if there were a sound board of the ten things i say the most, "i don't need a bag; i can put it in my tote," would certainly be one of them. i'm such a freak about not taking/using plastic shopping bags that i'm that person who won't let friends who happen to be shopping with me get bags. i butt in and tell the cashier, "we don't need a bag, he/she can put it in my tote." or, on those days that i purchase more than what will fit in the tote(s) i brought, i might walk to my car with a pack of toilet paper or a box of tampons under my arm, a carton of eggs in one hand, and anything else i can possibly carry in the other.
but those plastic produce bags -- i often find that i don't plan well enough and end up needing one or two on a shopping trip. and i feel crazy guilty every time i take one, even though i always reuse them or recycle them.
so -- i'm working to correct that. i made up these reusable produce bags with the intention of just making a few for myself. not even half way into the project, though, i was so pleased with them that i decided to try them out in the shop. i really really like them and i want you to, too!

i made them in two different sizes. the one is small/medium, it's perfect for most produce shopping needs, fitting at least six large apples, or a bunch of lemons, or three or so average size zucchini or cucumbers. it's also great for herbs or delicate little lettuce mixes. and then i made a larger size one, which is great for bigger heads of lettuce like romaine, or for bunches of kale or collard greens, or beets or carrots with the greens still on them.

i gotta admit, i felt pretty darned cool walking out of the store with one of these bags full of lettuce and the other carrying apples and lemons.

each is embellished with a row of a machine-embroidered leaf pattern.

and the top is a drawstring of vintage ribbon that matches the embroidery. it's knotted so that you won't loose the string in the laundry machines.

what do you think? is this the kind of thing that you would use? or would you get them and then forget to bring them along when you went shopping? i'm certainly excited about them...
see the details in the shop, here. ciao!

new edit --- i made more - a lot more! yesterday i got on a kick and was having so much fun letting my sewing machine do all of the fancy stitchwork that i just kept going. here are some of the new colors and patterns:

yeah!