Ask me about my sack

I've said it more than once, but I'm a huge fan of the bulk section at Winco Foods.  One of my brothers actually got me hooked on the bulk section at Winco.  I was visiting him one weekend and to entertain me he took me to Winco for the first time.  He treated to me a selection of gummy candies that we gorged ourselves on while playing video games the rest of the weekend.

The only real downside I've found to buying in bulk is the number of plastic bags we go through.  Depending on how much stocking up we are doing, we can come home with more than 10 different bags filled with flour, rice, beans, and other stuff that isn't quite so good for you.  For the last year or two we've been saving these bags after we refill our kitchen storage containers and reusing them on our next trip.  This has worked pretty well but when the bags have been filled with a powder like flour or sugar we've had to rinse the bags which can be a pain.  I decided to look for a better and more permanent solution.

I found Kootsac on Etsy and order a set to try out.  They were really well made and worked well on the first trip to Winco.  Only three came in the set I bought and they were all a bit on the small side, especially for the amount of flour I usually buy.  I decided with LJ's sewing set up I could create my own.

I found some nylon ripstop on eBay that was originally intended for use in making military parachutes but it did not meet their specifications (the auction warned me not to attempt to make my own parachute out of it).

I used one of our bags as a guide and cut the material to to strips.  To create the bags I would fold the strip over itself and sew up the sides to create a bag.

LJ got me set up on her serger, gave me a few tips to ensure the ends were sealed well, and left me to it.

I'm now the proud owner of 12 large and 4 small reusable sacks for buying bulk dry goods.  I should mention at this point the policy at Winco is that you can't bring in your own containers to fill in the bulk section.  No one said anything to me when I used the Kootsac and it was bright blue.  I intentionally went with a material that resembles the normal plastic bags in the hopes that no one would say anything to me.  If I'm confronted about using them I may play dumb, or if I'm feeling bold I may ask to speak to a manager.  I'm hoping this small act of environmental activism doesn't get me black listed from Winco, though I imagine they would welcome my sacks at the local co-op.  That place is a little too full of hippies, even for me.