What you need, per sack:
● 44cm x 60cm hessian for sack outer
● 18cm x 24cm piece of MDF, perspex or heavy card for base
● 1 quilting fat quarter for lining sack sides (cut into 2 pieces of 25cm x 44 cm)
● 20cm x 44cm calico for lining the base
● 12cm x 26cm hessian for hanging loop
● 12cm x 26cm fusible interfacing for hanging loop
● 44cm x 60cm heavy interfacing to stiffen sack outer (optional – see tip)
● Thread to match
● Wooden dowel or curtain rod
● Hooks to hang rod from wall
● Photo transfer paper and image, or a stencil and paint
Sack outer
Fold large hessian piece in half, bringing short edges together – the folded edge will be the bag’s base. Sew down the sides with a 1cm seam allowance, leaving the top edge unsewn. Press seams open.
With the sack inside out, fold at one corner, bringing the seam flat against the bottom of the sack. Measure 9cm along the seam from the corner point and sew across the corner of the sack, perpendicular to the seam. Repeat for other corner.
Turn sack right sides out and press. Press top edge of sack in 1cm.
Apply your image to one large side (follow package instructions for photo transfer paper, or paint your own design directly onto the hessian).
Tip: Our sacks have been made without interfacing. For a more structured boxy shape, fuse heavy interfacing to large hessian piece before sewing.
Sack lining
Sew 2 side pieces and 1 base piece together (join them at the long edges with the base piece in the middle and using 1cm seam allowances). Press seams open.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 as for sack outer (this time when you sew across the corner there is no need to measure – just sew along the side/base seam).
Tip: If preferred, you can replace the quilting cotton and calico lining with a single tea towel (cut it down to 44cm x 60cm and sew as for sack outer).
Assemble sack
Drop wooden base into sack outer.
Drop sack lining into sack outer so that wrong sides are together.
Line up top raw edge of lining with top folded edge of hessian. Sew together 2mm from the top edge.
Hand sew lining to hessian at the corners only. It doesn’t need to be pretty – the hessian will hide any rough hand stitching!
Smooth the lining so the excess extends up out of the sack, press, then fold the excess down over the top edge of the sack to create a cuff.
Hanging loop
Iron interfacing to loop piece.
Fold short edges of loop in 1cm and press.
Fold loop lengthwise and pin to top edge of back of sack. Leave enough room in your loop for the rod to fit through.
Edgestitch along the top edge of the sack, through all layers to secure the loop.
Hang sacks
Thread sacks onto one long rod or short individual rods and hang on wall using hooks.
Fill with veges and enjoy!
Tip: Depending on your kitchen wall space you could hang these horizontally or vertically.
Templates:
Increase to required size.
Templates are reversed so they are ready to print out on your transfer paper.
Following packet instructions, iron tranfer onto your bag.
Photographs by: Bauer Studio (NZ)
Styling by: Marsha Smith
Mortar and pestle, chopping board and jars from Freedom.
