Lite Green by Sebrina Smith
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How a DIY disaster turned into reusable produce bags!

Recently, I spent the better part of an afternoon gorging myself on HGTV. Needless to say, I was in the mood for some serious DIY projects.

After deciding on an ambitious project in which I would repurpose all my leftover paint, some scrap lumber, old fabric squares and some blue tassels I had been saving, I began. Three frustrating hours later, all I had accomplished was to throw a magazine at the unsuspecting Mr. Lite Green and snark at him about our squeaky garage door. My project did not go well.

This often happens when I watch HGTV. I'm one of those "bite off more than you can chew" types. Not surprisingly, Mr. Lite Green would prefer that I watch the Food Network. Because, he says, my failures taste good even if they don't look pretty, and I usually don't yell at him because the souffle didn't puff. I am more pragmatic about my cooking, I guess.

While I didn't complete my HGTV DIY Dream Project, something good did come out of the experience. While pouring over fabric scraps, I came across some beautiful silver/slate tulle that was leftover from a wedding project. So, feeling a little sullen over my lack of construction ability, I began another project using the tulle. While I don't sling a hammer like a pro, I do sew like one.

I made some reusable produce bags.

I came across this project at Mother Earth News several months ago and had been looking for an opportunity to try it. MEN suggests using sheer curtain fabric, but the tulle I had worked perfectly. And the bags have held up nicely so far, even after washing.

Easy DIY Reusable Produce Bags
Start with some ribbon and a rectangular piece of sheer fabric, 12" x 24". Fold fabric in half and sew up long sides of fabric, right sides together. Turn and trim corners if desired. Attach ribbon as shown, and...Voila! (Be sure to use colorfast ribbon for this project if you plan to wash your bags.)

I didn't bother with french seams, as the MEN directions suggest. I pinked the edges of the tulle as I cut the 12" x 24" inch pieces and then zig-zagged the seams. This stopped the edges from fraying. I also made a drawstring casing for the ribbon closure.

You could easily adjust the fabric size to a 24" x 24" square and proceed as directed to make a nice lingerie bag for your delicates. A little bigger, about 30" x 30", would make a bag big enough to hold all your kid's tub toys.