The Great Bag is a Great Thing: Handmade Resuable Shopping Bags

Happyhippie.com recently received a resuable handmade shopper bag created by The Great Bag by Grace, in the San Bernadino mountains.

We were sent a plain, natural unbleached muslin, that was a light off-white color. Tammy, of The Great Bag company, had also given instructions to decorate the bag to personalize it. This was going to be so fun!

First, I'd like to describe this bag, as Happyhippie has a deep respect for any artist who creates handmade items. The muslin fabric is baby soft, not rough like the ones sold in grocery stores, and the stitching exudes fine crafts-woman-ship. The bottom was reinforced with creative stitching to allow for a heavy grocery load, and there are adorable little cross-stitching designs on the black fabric rim that goes around the bag. There are also two thoughtful tabs inside the bag, to hook onto the bag holder in the grocery store for faster loading. On the front, there is another helpful tab for hanging the bag up in the car, on a peg, or just to dry after washing. The bag is also ample in size, measuring 10"w x 13"h x 6"d.

What made this bag extra-special, was that all bags are handmade in Grace's mountain home in northern California. The best part is that this fabulous, handmade, durable bag is only $16.99 - which is a bargain for the quality work, and time that went into this piece. There are also many patterned reusuable shopping bags available as well at Thegreatbag.com

Now, on to my creative assignment! Since I wanted to use what I had on hand, I was a bit limited in my design choices. However, I had some felt left over from my daughter's school project, and I have been having way too much fun with my upholstery tool that makes fabric covered buttons. I hand sewed on my flowers, leaves and buttons in eager artistic anticipation.

The result? Some simple, but happy Spring flowers! I absolutely adore this 'handmade' collaboration (although Grace, the talented seamstress, did all the hard work). This fun, soft and functional bag is now my everything purse. I can throw my wallet in there, and then I have my grocery bag on me as I go out to shop.

 

A huge thank you to The Great Bag, for not only a great bag, but a fun project. If you would like to try your hand at decorating a bag, or shop the pretty fabric ones, please click here to visit The Great Bag website.