Bread Bag Tutorial
Bread is sort of my “thing”. I think I’m invited to some parties just because it’s assumed I’ll bring homemade bread. When I go to friends’ houses, I’m often bearing the gift of bread. As I like to give away bread, I bought special paper bread bags from King Arthur Flour a few years ago, to have something to transport the loaves in. They were good bags, with tiny holes to allow air circulation, which is good for crusty breads, and they came in packs of 100. I realized the other day that I was just about out of the paper bags so I went to King Arthur to order some more and was dismayed to find they no longer sell them. Thus began the great hunt for paper bread bags. I can’t find them anywhere in packs of less than 500, and even when I thought maybe I’d just buy 500 and sell half of them on eBay, none of them seemed as good as the kind I had. I was beginning to get very annoyed.
My googling for paper bread bags gave me the idea, however, to make cloth bags. Since I’m already making cloth gift bags, I don’t know why this thought didn’t occur to me earlier. The best part about this idea is the fact that linen tea towels are the perfect size for making bread bags. That’s my favorite part because it means no cutting – I can’t cut in a straight line even with a rotary cutter – and no finishing seams! AND I get to shop for vintage tea towels, which is fun!
This is a very quick, easy, inexpensive, and useful craft item. If you don’t bake your own bread, these bags are good storage for artisan breads you buy in a bakery as well. As I’ve said before, I’m AWFUL at sewing, so if I can do this, you can too.
Bread Bag
1 linen tea towel (14″ – 18″ wide by 30″ – 36″ tall)
string or ribbon
thread
large safety pin
To determine how much string you need for a regular artisan loaf bag, multiply the width of the towel by two and add 10″. So if your towel is 16″ wide, multiply 16 x 2 to get 32, then add 10 to get 42″. If you are making a baguette bag, just add 10″ to the width of the towel, so for a 16″ wide towel, cut 26″ string.
Wash and iron your tea towel. Now, ironing is something I never do. I don’t even know where this iron came from; I found it in the laundry room and I think it’s the landlord’s. But some of my towels were pretty wrinkled and I have a hard enough time trying to sew in a straight line on smooth fabric, so I figured I’d better iron them.
Unfortunately, I made a horrible mistake in deciding to iron on the dining room table (I put a bath towel on it)…when I picked up the bath towel, I discovered I’d done THIS to the table:
Which is bad news because Fortinbras bought and refinished that table for me as a gift. I asked him what I should do and he said, “buy an ironing board like every other American; what’s wrong with you?!” He also said he’d look at the photo I sent him and call me back with advice but I haven’t head from him since so I think he’s plotting ways to strangle me. (Actually, F-dog is extremely busy right now and I shouldn’t have been bothering him in the first place.) So, um, iron your towel some different way than what I did. As for me, I’ve learned my lesson and will never iron anything ever again.
So anyway, here’s my ironed tea towel. This tutorial is for a regular bread bag. I’ll explain the how to make a baguette bag at the end (it’s actually even easier).
Fold the top and bottom edges over (wrong sides together), by about an inch (depending on how wide your string is), and pin. Note that the top of some tea towels is already folded over like this so you can insert a dowel for hanging. If your towel is like this, half your work is done for you: just pin the bottom edge.
Sew close to the original edge.
When you’ve done both the top and the bottom, fold the towel in half, top to bottom, right sides together, and pin.
Sew these two seams, being very careful to start at your first seam, that is, don’t sew the loop you created above closed. Look where my needle is in the picture and start sewing there.
Here is the bag with both sides sewn up:
Here’s a closeup of the top edge, you can see where my side seams start below the top hem:
Stick a large safety pin through one end of your string. It may help to put a bit of tape on the end of the string first so it doesn’t unravel.
Insert the safety pin into one of of the top hems.
Holding the safety pin through the fabric in one hand, scrunch the fabric onto the pin, then pull the pin through a bit.
Keep going until the safety pin comes out the other side.
Then stick it in the other hem and repeat the process.
Pull the string so the ends are even and knot the ends.
Turn the bag right side out, and you’re done!
To close, just pull the strings.
To make a baguette bag, hem just the top of the towel as described above, then fold the towel in half lengthwise (right sides together) and sew the side and the bottom. Insert the string in the same fashion. These bags won’t be long enough for a real French baguette, but they are long enough for baguettes made in most home ovens, and they’d probably be plenty big enough for storing leftovers of store-bought baguettes.
Here are all the bags I made today. My favorite towels are the souvenir travel towels. I just got two map of Scotland towels today, too, that I’m excited to turn into bags.
Here are some loaves of Hamelman’s pain au levain (which is fancy French for sourdough) I baked today:
I finally got an oval brotform:
Let bread cool completely before storing if you can, although linen will breath enough that I’ll feel confident slipping hot loaves in when I’m in a hurry to get somewhere with them, which is often.
Now, my theory of these bags is this: I’ve bought (and am still buying) a bunch of old tea towels for a couple of bucks each, which I’m going to make into bags in batches as I have a chance. I can probably make 5 or 6 in an hour. I plan to make an initial stash of 25 to 30 bags, a few of which I’ll keep for my own use, but most of which I’ll use for transporting bread to other people. The first time I take a bread bag to someone, it will be a gift: they keep it and use it (I hope). There are some people that routinely get bread from me; these people would eventually end up with more bread bags than they can use, so they can just start returning the extras to me to be refilled. Most of the bags will just be given away, though, which is good, because making these bags is the perfect craft for me: it’s cheap, it’s quick, and although it involves the sewing machine (usually a huge no-no in Renae crafts), it’s kind of foolproof. So I’ll just keep an eye out for cute vintage towels, buy them as I see them, and periodically make a bunch of new bags.
I used my two Australia bags today in honor of the fact that one year ago today, I was in Australia.
I think I might also branch out and make potato and onion bags as well.
Bonus Brachtune picture:
kibbles Said,
February 27, 2010 @ 8:09 pm
Good idea! I need to bake more often but bread just will not rise in my 60F house in the winter.
And that table, oh my god. I have a story very similar. My boyfriend and I were attending his good friend’s wedding in Maine and we stayed at a really nice, historic Inn. He decided to iron his black coat on the wood foot board of the bed, a really nice bed, and, well… yup. Nobody noticed and we left ashamed but scott-free! I still feel bad about it, he totally ruined that part of the wood (but not quite as visibly as your poor table).
kibbles Said,
February 27, 2010 @ 8:09 pm
Good idea! I need to bake more often but bread just will not rise in my 60F house in the winter.
And that table, oh my god. I have a story very similar. My boyfriend and I were attending his good friend’s wedding in Maine and we stayed at a really nice, historic Inn. He decided to iron his black coat on the wood foot board of the bed, a really nice bed, and, well… yup. Nobody noticed and we left ashamed but scott-free! I still feel bad about it, he totally ruined that part of the wood (but not quite as visibly as your poor table).
kibbles Said,
February 27, 2010 @ 8:13 pm
Also: http://tipnut.com/diy-how-to-remove-white-heat-stains-on-wood-table/
That is a tip using an iron and it’s steam function to get the white marks off, but since it seems to work on only certain types of varnish you should test it on a small patch (or an already super-ruined patch, I doubt you can get those spots any worse!)
kibbles Said,
February 27, 2010 @ 8:13 pm
Also: http://tipnut.com/diy-how-to-remove-white-heat-stains-on-wood-table/
That is a tip using an iron and it’s steam function to get the white marks off, but since it seems to work on only certain types of varnish you should test it on a small patch (or an already super-ruined patch, I doubt you can get those spots any worse!)
trinity Said,
February 27, 2010 @ 10:25 pm
Love the bags! I don’t have an ironing board either; tell Fortinbras to stop generalizing Americans 😉
trinity Said,
February 27, 2010 @ 10:25 pm
Love the bags! I don’t have an ironing board either; tell Fortinbras to stop generalizing Americans 😉
Lisa G/K Said,
February 28, 2010 @ 12:55 am
My iron only comes out to fuse perler beads for kids’ art projects.
Love the bags! They are beautiful.
Brachtune looks very, very comfortable…..
Lisa G/K Said,
February 28, 2010 @ 12:55 am
My iron only comes out to fuse perler beads for kids’ art projects.
Love the bags! They are beautiful.
Brachtune looks very, very comfortable…..
Tiffany Said,
February 28, 2010 @ 2:04 pm
Sorry to hear about the ironing mishap. 🙁 Cloth bread bags are such a great idea. Thanks for posting the lovely tutorial! I’m always baking bread so I think this will have to be my next sewing project.
Rebecca Said,
February 28, 2010 @ 3:37 pm
Hey, long time lurker here! I check your blog a few times a week and I have to say I love how often you’ve been updating lately! Probably all that bad weather keeping you indoors! I’m in Seattle so we haven’t had any snow this year :).
Anyway, i love this idea! I usually use funky tea towels and handkerchiefs from thrift stores to make pillowcases and tote bags for gifts, but I’ve never thought of making them specifically for bread! Transporting loaves to friends houses is always tricky, especially when they’re hot, so i think this is a perfect idea, if a little involved. Thanks for sharing!
Rebecca Said,
February 28, 2010 @ 3:37 pm
Hey, long time lurker here! I check your blog a few times a week and I have to say I love how often you’ve been updating lately! Probably all that bad weather keeping you indoors! I’m in Seattle so we haven’t had any snow this year :).
Anyway, i love this idea! I usually use funky tea towels and handkerchiefs from thrift stores to make pillowcases and tote bags for gifts, but I’ve never thought of making them specifically for bread! Transporting loaves to friends houses is always tricky, especially when they’re hot, so i think this is a perfect idea, if a little involved. Thanks for sharing!
renae Said,
February 28, 2010 @ 5:51 pm
Kibbles, THANK YOU for posting that link! I think what I just did was steam off the polyurethane coating Fortinbras put on the table, but the stain is gone! I’ll have to re-coat it, but in the meantime, it looks fine so I don’t have to feel sick about ruining the table every time Iook at it and maybe Fortinbras won’t kill me!
Trinity, I’m glad I’m not the only one without an ironing board!
Lisa G/K, thank you…and yes, Brachtune was so comfortable and sound asleep she didn’t wake up while I took about 500 pictures of her, with the camera right in her face.
Tiffany, in my opinion the best part of this project is it’s so quick it leaves more time for baking bread! I’m guessing you are much better at sewing than I am though!
Rebecca, you’re lucky re: no snow. I never collected tea towels before but now I’m hooked and I keep thinking of other things I can do with them.
Josiane Said,
February 28, 2010 @ 7:21 pm
Great idea! Lovely hand made bags are just the thing to complement your gifts of homemade bread. Thank you for the clear tutorial.
As for the not-ironing-anything-ever thing, you’re not alone! Actually, the only reason there is an iron in the house is that my gentleman friend brought his when he moved in with me…
Stephen Spencer Said,
March 1, 2010 @ 10:24 am
Poor table 🙁 Have fun visiting F-bras, I’m jealous.
Stephen Spencer Said,
March 1, 2010 @ 10:24 am
Poor table 🙁 Have fun visiting F-bras, I’m jealous.
Courtney Said,
March 1, 2010 @ 5:40 pm
Wow–I am super impressed! I know you say you are a bad sewer, but you MUST be good if you have a sewing machine and can use it, lol. I would love to try making these (I think it is such a great idea), but I seriously don’t know if I could sew a straight line (no sewing machine here)…I am intrigued, though…
Courtney
eric Said,
March 1, 2010 @ 9:23 pm
very clever. i love tea towels. i think any tendency to wanderlust in my body is just a clothed impetus to buy more tea towels. dig the north wales one in the pic.
Jes Said,
March 1, 2010 @ 10:19 pm
I love the bread bags! I see Christmas present ideas for next winter!
Jes Said,
March 1, 2010 @ 10:19 pm
I love the bread bags! I see Christmas present ideas for next winter!
Renee Said,
March 3, 2010 @ 9:33 am
What an awesome, creative idea! Just a suggestion about pinning fabric when using your sewing machine – turn your pins in the opposite direction – horizontally in relationship to the presser foot and needle instead of vertically (across instead of up and down). Things will go faster and you can sew right over the pins without worrying that they will get caught up in the mechanism and break stuff!
Kylie Said,
March 11, 2010 @ 12:59 am
As it happens, I need a bread bag..
Susie Said,
April 14, 2010 @ 7:14 pm
I was just looking on line for paper bags. I order from King Arthur alot and thought for sure they’ld have some in a “home baker’s” lot size. You’re right, no such luck-only plastic. I’ve been using paper bags I get from the petshop as they are the perfect size. Not anymore! I’m stealing your super smart idea! (but will mention this site to give credit ;o)..) Thankyou for sharing the tutorial.
Susie Said,
April 14, 2010 @ 7:14 pm
I was just looking on line for paper bags. I order from King Arthur alot and thought for sure they’ld have some in a “home baker’s” lot size. You’re right, no such luck-only plastic. I’ve been using paper bags I get from the petshop as they are the perfect size. Not anymore! I’m stealing your super smart idea! (but will mention this site to give credit ;o)..) Thankyou for sharing the tutorial.
kimooa Said,
May 11, 2010 @ 2:44 pm
Love the bag! Good tutorial, and so many photos, thank you very much!
Jean Said,
May 26, 2010 @ 9:08 am
Awesome tutorial. Thank you for sharing. I LOVE your pictures!!! I started making my own bags last night:)
Sam Said,
July 10, 2010 @ 11:25 am
I was researching cloth bread bags when I came across your blog. I just about fell over backwards when I saw the photo of the tea towel you were using. I hadn’t seen one of those WA 150 tea towels in about 30 years. I used to have the matching tee shirt as a 9 year old. This is my home state. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
renae Said,
July 12, 2010 @ 12:20 am
Sam, that’s neat! I got the tea towel from eBay. I like the design on that one because unlike a lot of the vintage towels, it’s very simple. I haven’t been to Western Australia, but I’m looking forward to returning to your country!
Sophie Said,
December 7, 2010 @ 1:46 pm
I could’ve written Sam’s post word for word, except I think I was a 7yr old at the time! I’m also from Western Australia, and was also researching cloth bread bags when I found your tutorial and was so surprised to see that teatowel! 🙂 Thanks so much for this tutorial….will go and see which teatowels I have that could be made into nice bread bags. Might think about doing some as Christmas pressies with a loaf of sourdough bread even. Thank yoouuuu!!
renae Said,
December 10, 2010 @ 10:02 am
Sophie, wow, that is a coincidence! And I never expected to get such a response about that towel! That’s really cool though. I think the Christmas present idea sounds lovely!
Kate Said,
December 12, 2010 @ 10:10 am
Wow! I was randomly looking up crafts and found your site, and you’ve got not only my state’s flag, but I was also born in the 150th year 🙂 Haha, ah the internet!
list lovers: 5 kitchen printables and projects | the little list Said,
May 5, 2011 @ 7:30 am
[…] Turn vintage tea towels in bread bags with this tutorial at I Eat […]
Linda Forsdick Said,
May 20, 2011 @ 3:36 am
Awesome! I felt so inspired after reading your blog that I went to the draw found 3 unused tea towels & whipped up three bread bags in under an house. The tea towels I picked up many years ago whilst on holiday in Yugoslavia (as it was then) such happy memories! One of the bags is for French Sticks the other two are for my homemade bread. Thank you so much for sharing your idea & tutorial. It is Autumn in New Zealand right now & plenty of bread making is going on. Happy Days & Nights!
renae Said,
May 20, 2011 @ 8:02 am
Hi Linda, I’m glad you liked the tutorial! I’m really enjoying spring here in the US, but you have me slightly longing for autumn!
Shell Said,
May 21, 2011 @ 3:21 am
I have a matching dining table to yours. I also will never iron the curtains on it again lol. Nice and simple tutorial.
Ross Said,
September 8, 2011 @ 9:46 am
For your table, take a clean cloth, form a tight ball with it, and dampen the bottom with denatured alcohol or methyl hydrate or fondue fuel. ‘Smudge’ the whitened areas with this TIGHT ball of cloth, in rapid motions and you will see the white go away. Might have to repeat once or twice.
Then get some good furniture wax and wax the table again. The white is just moisture from your steam iron permeating the surface varnish. You can get it from a wet drinking cup as well.
Nice looking bread. I’m an intrepid bread maker too. Your bags are very nice and homey and congrats for making them. Seems like a lot of work for a single loaf of bread, tho. Plus if recipient doesn’t eat the bread in one shot it will be too hard within 24hrs. How about a plastic liner bag so it keeps the bread fresh for a few days?
renae Said,
September 8, 2011 @ 10:20 am
Thanks, Ross! I did get most of the white areas off, but it’s not perfect, so I’ll try your tips. As for the bread bags, I have also made a bag with a windbreaker fabric lining for longer storage, but they are much more complex to make – not something I’m going to do every time I give a loaf away. The tea towel bags were really meant to replace the paper bags I couldn’t find any more that I used to use for gifted bread. I’ve encouraged people who can’t eat my loaves within 24 hours to slice then freeze them in a freezer bag, removing the slices as required and thawing or toasting.
Elizabeth Said,
September 26, 2011 @ 5:53 pm
I am inspired to make a teatowel bag now – but a little smaller. I study full time and my lunches alternate between packaged/processed bits-and-pieces thrown into my handbag at the last moment; or homemade salad sandwiches and fruit with a lot of cling wrap, all tucked into ziplock/freezer bags which I throw out each time I use them. If my little tea towel bag works out I will be helping the environment, as well as saving a little bit of money from not buying sandwich sized ziplock bags anymore! (And I will feel less guilt over the size of my teatowel stash!)Yay!
Michele Said,
February 21, 2012 @ 9:06 pm
I was just wondering how long bread will stay fresh in a cloth bag? I am new to making bread…my family usually goes through a loaf every 2-3 days….
renae Said,
February 21, 2012 @ 11:45 pm
Hi Michele, it totally depends on the type of bread. You can assume that keeping it in a cloth bag would be similar to keeping it in a paper bag, so one way to think about it would be, would you expect to receive that type of bread in a plastic or paper bag if you bought it at a bakery? Those that you’d find in a paper bag will do well in a cloth bag; those you’d find in plastic may dry out in cloth. Many crusty artisanal loaves will fare okay for 2-3 days in a cloth bag, but they’ll be getting tough to slice by day three. Place the cut side down (inside the bag) to keep it from crusting over. Some whole wheat miche breads will last even longer but honestly most new bread bakers don’t start with that type of bread. Soft sandwich loaves – the type you’d find enclosed in a plastic bag in a bakery – will probably dry out faster than you want them to in a cloth bag, but they may be okay for a day or two. In general, sourdough loaves stay fresher longer than instant yeast loaves. Cloth bags aren’t intended to increase the storage time of any type of bread, though; it’s not going to fare much better in a cloth (or paper) bag than it would out in the open. But that is how you are supposed to store some types of bread.
bread storage Said,
June 19, 2012 @ 10:18 pm
[…] Turn a tea towel into a bread bag – link HERE. […]
Kirstin Said,
August 5, 2012 @ 8:35 am
Brilliant idea! I have also used tea towels to make half aprons to give as gifts. i’m always taken with the flowery/chintzy ones.