During the pandemic I bought 30 yards of fabric from some friend of a friend of a friend in Ghana who was trying to earn some money. I was hoping to use the fabric for mask covers (I made more than 1000), but it took so long for the people bringing the fabric to get here, that it was too late for masks. So, I ended up using some of the fabric for American Girl doll clothes, gave some to an African man who came and bought something at our house, donated some to a charity that makes bags, then made a few bags for us. The fabric is heavier than quilting cotton, but not as heavy as duck cloth. I wanted to record here that I think the perfect size for carrying a folder and a few things to church is 14" x 32" with 3" x 27" straps.
I don't need to go into great instructions on making the bags, but you need to fold the big piece of fabric in half and sew up the sides and create your depth in your preferred manner. For the straps, I just ironed in each long edge 1/2" then folded the whole thing the long way in half and sewed down each side. I probably put each end of the strap in from each edge of the bag about 3-4". I re-enforced each strap also.
