His and hers bags

Here's the his-and-hers bag set I made for my brother-in-law and his partner. They just moved in together and I am sure these will come in handy with the ensuing grocery shopping trips.

They moved from a coop into their own place, which is a bit of a transition when it comes to eating, cooking and grocery shopping. I speak from experience. Just after Dan and I were married we lived in the same coop of 8 people. The dinners were communal (with one person cooking per week) and the shopping was done weekly, based on a standard 'staples' list. Staples included beans, rice and other pantry items, but also included tons of fresh, local produce, artisan cheese and fair-trade coffee...to speak nothing of the ever-full jar of chocolate chips located above the refrigerator.

Because the monthly coop share (rent) included both board and food, we lost all touch with how expensive food was to purchase. There was a house account set up at the local food coop so no cash ever really exchanged hands. When it was your week to shop you just went to the store and filled up bags with all kinds of goodies.

Needless to say we were in shock about the cost of food after about a month of being responsible for purchasing our own. I hope these pretty bags will help these two adjust as well (or at least make is seem less painful to pay so much for food).

These will also be posted in my flickr group of Sew, Mama, Sew-inspired tote bags.