DIY plastic bag dispenser and holder. A no sew project. This is a great way to create storage for your plastic grocery bags and have them easily accessible and ready to use when you need them. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias
Learn how to make a plastic bag dispenser!
Or, buy one of these cool looking ones, they even have two packs.
If you need to store plastic bags in a homemade dispenser, this DIY plastic bag holder is super simple to make and you don’t even need to sew at all!
Make this plastic bag dispenser DIY project with ease, follow the tutorial below!
Make your own DIY no-sew plastic bag dispenser.
This tutorial will walk you step by step through the process of making your own plastic bag organizing dispenser.
If you’re like us, you use plastic grocery bags for many different things, including scooping the litter box.
Currently, our plastic bags are all shoved into a cabinet.
We’ve literally lost an entire cabinet to plastic bags and it’s time to make a DIY plastic bag dispenser!
Plastic Bag Dispenser
Turbo, our cat, is taking center stage on the blog this week! We’re not talking about the most glorious topic, and believe me, I know.
We adopted Turbo about 3 years ago, and I was unsure about getting a cat at all, but Katie wanted another Munchkin cat, and how can I say no to her?
Since we use plastic grocery bags for cleaning the litter box, I’ve decided that they should no longer be stuffed into a kitchen cabinet.
I’m going to make a DIY plastic grocery bag dispenser!
Plastic Bag Holder DIY
We’ll need only a few things to make a no-sew plastic bag dispenser.
I opted for a no-sew, but you can just as easily sew this together. Just sew where we glue.
Materials
- Fat quarter of fabric (18″x22″ fabric)
- Knit elastic
- Ribbon
- Fabric glue
Instructions
Step 1
Lay your fabric on the table, wrong side up. Fold and crease both the bottom and top edges at about 2 inches each. Cut a small square from the bottom corner of your fold. This will overlap to cover the elastic band later on.
Make sure you have enough room on the bottom edge for your elastic to be fed through comfortably.
Secure the folds with glue.
For the bottom edge, only glue the very edge and leave plenty of room to slip your elastic through. You can glue the entire top folded edge.
Allow these two folds to dry according to the directions on the glue package. Mine was 30 minutes. (I didn’t wait that long. I only waited long enough for the glue to set and gently moved along.)
Step 2
Turn the bag dispenser over, right side up. Fold one edge over and apply a bead of glue to one side edge, fold the other side over and stick it to the glue.
Press with your fingers and allow the glue to dry. Feel free to face glue it if you’d like, either way works well.
Note: Leave an inch or so unglued on the bottom in order to feed your elastic through. We can secure this once our elastic band is in.
Step 3
Once this seam is dry, flip the plastic bag dispenser right side out and shimmy the elastic through the bottom fold.
Ruffle the fabric and figure out where you’d like to cut your elastic. A 5 to 6 inch band of elastic should be enough. Add an extra inch or so for gluing the elastic securely.
TIP: You want the hole to be large enough to comfortably remove bags, but not so large that the plastic bags will fall out.
I know that our plastic bag dispenser will get a lot of use, and I have never used this particular fabric glue before, so I decided to add a staple along with the glue to make sure the elastic doesn’t go anywhere for a very long time.
Once you’ve secured the elastic, glue the rest of the seam down (remember we left an inch or two not glued for the elastic band).
Step 4
Cut the ribbon you’ve chosen for the hanger between 12 and 14 inches long, attach to the inside of the bag using fabric glue.
Oh! Wait a minute! Turbo has decided to come help… Aah! Watch your toes Turbo!!
Okay, now that Turbo has gone to take a nap, we can continue and attach the ribbon hanger to the inside of the bag.
Just glue it in there with your fabric glue. Line it up so you have one end of your ribbon attached to one side, and directly opposite, you’ll attach the other side.
Pro Tip: Be sure to situate the ribbon so the bag’s seam will be on the back when hanging. This means to glue the ribbon at about 1/2 way around the bag on either side, with the seam in the back.
Once all the glue is dry, you’re ready to hang your DIY no sew plastic bag dispenser and stuff it with plastic bags!
If you want to buy one instead of making one..check these out!
This won’t make cleaning the litter box any more glamorous, but it will take care of the plastic bag mess which lurks under all of our cabinets!
You might also like:
How do you keep your litter scoop plastic bags organized?
DIY Plastic Bag Dispenser No Sew
Equipment
- Scissors
- Fabric Glue
Ingredients
- 1 Fat quarter of fabric (18″x22″ fabric)
- 1 Knit elastic
- 1 Ribbon
Instructions
- Lay your fabric on the table, wrong side up. Fold and crease both the bottom and top edges at about 2 inches each. Cut a small square from the bottom corner of your fold. Secure the folds with glue. For the bottom edge, only glue the very edge and leave plenty of room to slip your elastic through. You can glue the entire top folded edge.
- Turn the bag dispenser over, right side up. Fold one edge over and apply a bead of glue to one side edge, fold the other side over and stick it to the glue. Press with your fingers and allow the glue to dry. Feel free to face glue it if you’d like, either way works well.
- Once this seam is dry, flip the plastic bag dispenser right side out and shimmy the elastic through the bottom fold. Ruffle the fabric and figure out where you’d like to cut your elastic. A 5 to 6 inch band of elastic should be enough. Add an extra inch or so for gluing the elastic securely.
- Cut the ribbon you’ve chosen for the hanger between 12 and 14 inches long, attach to the inside of the bag using fabric glue.
Video
Notes
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Hi Jeannette, You don’t need a fat quarter, you can certainly use any material you have on hand!
Hi there, one question, does it have to be “fat quarter”? Could I just use any fabric I have? Sorry if this is dumb, I dont work with fabric for diys a lot. Thanks in advance!
Thank you Elizabeth 🙂
I love this project. Your munchkin Turbo, is just the cutest kitten I have seen.
I’m glad you all love this project. It’s been the most popular post here for some time and I know so many of you are coming from Pinterest, I hope you’ll consider pinning this to your boards so others can find it as well!
Wow, great use of the materials you have on hand, that’s awesome! Thanks for sharing!
So easy! I made 3 in about 20 minutes! Took care of the bag clutter in my laundry room. Just used an old tablecloth for the holder and straps. Didnt have elastic so I used old pantie hoses instead and it worked great! Love it. Thanks!
Hi Kathy! Haha, not at all. There are no silly questions. I actually fed the elastic through and ruffled the base of the bag a little bit until the hole was just smaller than my fist – maybe 6 inches of elastic or so and it seems to work very well.
I think by the time you fill it with crinkly plastic bags it’s not going to matter a whole lot, they won’t come dropping out on their own unless they’re very tightly wadded.
Hope that helps!
This probably sounds like a crazy question, but how long is the elastic you use. I know it is a personal preference, but how long was the piece you used. Did you find it to be the right size opening to keep bags in and have easy access?
Thanks, Kathy i Alabama
I’m trying this out for my cat Rukus, who is a long legged version of your Turbo!!!!! Thanks for the instructions
He is pretty sweet 🙂
💕💕💕 Turbo!!!
You’re welcome Cherease! Glad you’ve found it helpful. I definitely prefer the no sew method myself! 🙂
This is perfect since I cant’ sew!!! thanks for sharing.
Hmm, I hadn’t thought of using a bicycle pant leg clip. I think it would work nicely!
It’s a great idea…I’ve made several over the past 39 year, and used some as part of a kitchen shower gift. I do sew, but for my sister who doesn’t, this would be a good way to do it. I was wondering if you ever thought of using a bicycle pant leg clip (put it around your pant leg that is next to the chain, and it will keep your pant leg safe & clean from the chain’s grease), in place of the elastic?
Yay! That’s exciting! Great ideas to repurpose things around the house to make a plastic bag dispenser! Reusing a tea towel and then using stockings for the elastic — ingenious! I have also since made another one, they’re so handy to have! Thank you for the Comment, E!
Thank you for this guide! I couldn’t be bothered to cut the fabric to size so I just used an old tea-towel (this had the added bonus of a hem already sewn at the top). Also, I didn’t have any elastic to hand so I used an old knee-high stocking. I put the thing together in a few minutes and now it’s doing a good job storing my bags. I’ll probably make a few more over the coming weeks. Thanks!
Awesome, I’m so glad you found my tutorial helpful! These no sew plastic bag dispensers come out great, don’t they! So easy and so functional – we love ours! Thanks for your comment, Debbie! 🙂
Thank you so much!!! I just made one. Your instructions were perfect since I don’t know how to use a sewing machine. I still might learn yet at my old age.
At the rescue we go for the plastic bags for scooping. We use a lidded litter container next to the litter box. Just fill and discarded when full. No smell. I dump mine once a week on trash day into a paper bag so to save the litter container.
This is so smart! I should do this with all my grocery bags!
No cat’s in our home, but this bag dispenser would be a welcome addition. I like your style with the no sew!