MAKING & SEWING STRAPS

Repair of cold food carrier bag

  While stuffing this AT&T bag with as much as I could, the attached straps ripped right off. Cheap thing.

I need that bag. Besides, I throw NOTHING out. No, I’m not a hoarder. It is still good if you don’t mind carrying it like a bag of groceries (remember when the stores used paper?) So I’m going to make my own straps with left over material. I will make them long enough to go around the bottom different than just sewn to the sides like those “cheap” people did. Here’s how I did it.

I open the bag as if it were full. I measure down & around, adding additional length to make the handles. Cut material twice as long as needed, making the width about 5″. Fold it in half with right sides together (the good looking fabric is on the inside). Seam down the opened side and across the narrow bottom. To add strength, I top stitch 4-5 times with straight stitches up and down the strip. Then I cut the strap in half. I use really long knitting needle to turn the material inside out, wondering why I didn’t just top stitch the whole thing. Top stitch the other open end by tucking the raw edge inside the casing. I sew the straps onto the bag in the same spot the other straps were, making sure they go around the bottom. I tie the ends into knots. Done! The straps go over my arm comfortably with the knots at the top.