- 1). Decide on the style of shopping bag you like or would like to have, whether it will be carried by hand or worn over the shoulder on long handles. Decide if there will be a flap on the top as a closure or whether the bag will remain open. Comfort, capacity and function will influence the shopping bag pattern design.
- 2). Lay a large sheet of cardboard or mat board on a work table. With a measuring tape, measure and mark off the height and width of the shopping bag sides. With a straight edge and pen, connect the marks for the main body of the shopping bag. For example, a rectangular shape might be 14 inches high and 10 inches wide. Cut with a paper cutter or scissors. Write on this piece "Shopping Bag Pattern Part 1: cut 2 pieces."
- 3). On another sheet of cardboard or mat board, mark a long rectangular piece for the pattern that will be the bottom and both sides of the shopping bag. For example if the shopping bag will be 14 inches high and 10 inches wide, this insert will be about 38 inches long and perhaps 4 1/2 inches wide. This can also be a piece 19 inches long (if the fabric is folded in half when aligning the pattern). Write on this piece "Shopping Bag pattern Part 2: cut one piece 38 inches long."
- 4). Write separate instructions to cut fabric handles and attach to the cardboard patterns. Keep all pattern pieces and instructions together for cutting and sewing the shopping bag, as well as any notes for making this project. For example, the length of the fabric handles may apply to a certain person, and the pattern may vary accordingly.
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