Dog food bag bag

This project started with a Rangers baseball game. If you've ever been to a major league game, you know that more often than not, there are freebies handed out to spectators as they enter the ballpark. On this particular day, volunteers were handing out sturdy bags bearing the Rangers logo.  Very handy things, these bags. Our entire family attended the game, so we went home with a good collection of reusable shopping bags.  Days later, I got to looking at the bag, and thought, "Huh. These are made out of the same stuff as dog food bags." That sturdy, nearly indestructible woven plastic material that can't really be recycled. We have a big dog that eats big food that comes in those big 40-lb bags, and we'd been throwing those bags away.

So the next time we emptied a new bag into the food bin, I removed all the binding from the bag, folded it neatly, and tucked it away. Did the same with the next bag, and the next, and the next, until I had an embarrassingly large stash of empty dog food bags.

Lest I become a case study on Hoarders, I decided I needed to finally do something with those bags!  So that's been my project this week while I've been home with the crud.

The hardest part of this project is cleaning the bags. Dog food is oily, and I'm still trying to find the easiest/most efficient/inexpensive way to de-oil. So far it's been trial and error, and/or a cumulative effect of several different approaches. And of course some brands are harder to clean than others.

Materials:
~ Woven plastic dog food bag
~ Sewing machine & thread
~ Optional: fabric, webbing, bias tape, bling, etc.

Step 1:  Completely remove binding stitching and tape from top and bottom of bag.
Step 2:  Wash bag thoroughly inside and out.
- - -
Step 3:  Hang dry.

To make two bags, cut down one side seam (can be done before washing to make that step easier), then cut the bag in half. Use the remaining side seam as the bottom, sew up some new side seams, turn down the top and hem, and add some gussets. Add fabric or webbing handles.

To make one big bag, cut two four-inch strips off the top for handles if desired. Sew bottom seam and add gussets. Turn down top and hem.   Fashion handles from strips and attach.

Note: The feed dogs on the sewing machine are veritably useless on plastic, so wrestling the material through your machine and achieving a straight, even seam, takes a bit of practice.