sew | roll-up shopping bag

I found this roll-up shopping bag tutorial on Pinterest and decided to give it a try for my mom's birthday. I loved the finished product so much I've made four more since then (one huge one for me to use at the grocery store and three as gifts).

I love how the size is completely adjustable depending on your needs and yet, no matter how big you make the bag, it rolls up to about the size of a fist. This makes them ideal for hauling library books home, grocery shopping (or any shopping), and travelling (since they are approximately the size of a pair of socks, throw in two or three in case you need an extra bag or two for the trip home).

I was so excited to get the birthday bag in to mail to my mom I completely forgot to take a picture of it. However, I did manage to take a few pictures of the other bags:

Here are the three yet-to-be given-as-gifts bags all rolled up (I don't want to ruin the surprise of what they look like for the people who will be receiving them)

My jumbo bag

All rolled up

These bags are really easy to make but I strongly encourage that you don't skimp on the French seams. They take a little extra time but make the bag so much stronger (and they look nicer too!). I didn't know how to do French seams before this project but she walks you through it in the tutorial. If you're still a little confused (like I was) Google "how to sew with French seams" and you'll find a ton of detailed explanations.