As our world becomes more “green” or ecologically-minded, there will be more and more need for market bags not made of plastic. The largest grocery chain in my area is still using plastic bags but offering paper bags as an alternative. When I look around the store, most people even settle on plastic. I’d say that primary reason that plastic is probably preferred here – the humidity level causes any frozen or cold item to sweat and paper might not hold up. I will say that it seems that the paper quality might be better than it was back when paper was the only option. But many even question the use of paper – unless made with recycled materials, the creation of paper can impact our ecological environment.

So what choices do we have? Fabric, yarn, and string bags are excellent options! Finding these at economical prices isn’t always easy, but watching for sales and promotions can be helpful. Of course, you can always make your own! Whether you sew, crochet or knit or even macrame, a market bag can be whipped up fairly quickly.

The one pictured above, I completed a few weeks ago. It took me less than 12 hours total, and I’m a super slow crocheter – plus I underestimated yarn needs. Mostly because I misread the pattern, I did not have enough yarn which required another run to the store for more.

This pattern is the Perfect Day market Tote by Tamara Kelly as is available on her Moogly blog for free. This bag pattern is crocheted in the round, starting with a magic circle. The stitches include double crochet, wrapped double crochet and finishes with single crochet. The body of the bag has a two repeat of double and then the wrapped stitch.  As you might have seen from one of my previous posts, Tamara really creates fantastic patterns, and her video tutorials are so helpful for novice crocheters like me. The tutorials help me learn and understand how to read patterns too.

For this market bag, I used Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn by Yarnspirations. These skeins are small and generally, Michaels has a great selection. The primary color is teal with a band of the coral seas ombre. My bag is around 17 inches wide by 19 inches long, not including the handles. My handles are a bit shorter than the pattern because, don’t laugh, I was running out of yarn. You can also add store bought handles if you prefer, but the handles are relatively simple to make as well. I used an ergonomic style hook by Athena’s Elements which are very reasonably priced and available on Amazon.

I don’t think I’ll stop making market bags, and my friends/family might start receiving as gifts, but I do need to start taking them to the grocery so that I can use less plastic. While I do reuse the plastic often, it still ends up at some point in the garbage.