YARDS of old curtains, assorted scissors and a collection of old sewing machines may seem unlikely weapons in the battle to save the planet, but they are doing their bit.

I’ve come to Kirkbymoorside for a coffee morning with a difference. The ‘Kirby Baggers’ are a group of women who meet regularly to make fabric shopping bags which they give away for free to friends, family and strangers.

“People think there is a catch,” says Chris Dowie, organiser and key bag-maker. “But there is none. The bags take about half an hour to make, we give them away for free to stop people using plastic bags and do our bit to save the planet.”

The Kirkbymoorside women are part of the Morsbags initiative, a nationwide network of volunteers who make bags out of unwanted fabric and hand them out for free, often outside supermarkets.

The Ryedale gang launched in the spring by distributing their first collection of Morsbags at the local Spar shop.

Last week, Chris and fellow Morsbagger Katya Cooper, from Kellington, near Selby, travelled to Pontefract and passed on 300 handmade bags to shoppers there.

The Kirby Baggers meet once a month and can make up to 15 bags in a six-hour sew-a-thon. “Every time we finish a bag, we ring a bell,” says Chris.

It may seem only a gesture, but environmentalists point out that over its lifetime, one fabric bag can eliminate the use of 1,000 plastic bags.

“We can make about two bags each in our session,” says Chris. “Which means we’re each saving the use of 2,000 plastic bags.”

Each Morsbag handed out by the Kirby Baggers comes with an information label, telling the recipient about the venture, but also detailing scary facts about plastic.

“The sea is heavily polluted by plastic, which doesn’t biodegrade like organic material,” says Chris.

“There is a mass of plastic in the Pacific, called the Pacific Garbage Patch, that is twice the size of Texas and 30 metres deep and growing all the time. It contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic for every square mile of ocean.”

Besides the obvious blight, the plastic poses a real hazard to wildlife. “The bags are eaten by sea life such as turtles and albatrosses,” says Chris.

The problem is closer to home, too. Researchers have discovered that 95 per cent of birds in the North Sea have ingested plastic.

There is no doubt we are all becoming more environmentally aware and some shops now charge for plastic bags or refuse to provide them at all. Last week, it was announced that Brits have cut their use of plastic bags by half over the past three years. But there is still a long way to go, says Chris.

“Friends Of The Earth say that only one out of every 200 plastic bags is recycled and that the average adult in the UK uses166 bags a year,” she said.

Chris set up her Morsbags group after stumbling across its website. “I wanted to make bags for my daughters for Christmas and looked for patterns on the internet when I came across the Morsbags website.”

At first, she made bags for herself, family and friends, then decided to form her own pod with local women.

The bag-making operation is almost military in its planning, with handles and large squares of fabric cut and pressed ready for the seamstresses to get to work. But it also has the buzz of a bustling coffee morning among friends.

When I arrive, everyone is drinking coffee before tucking into squares of squidgy chocolate brownies, made by Chris the night before.

There are three sewing machines set up at the table, and before long, the run-away hum of the electric machines fills the room. Within half an hour, a pile of finished fabric bags is formed.

Lynn Southerton heard about the group through the local WI and came along to help out. “I can’t sew and thought I would just be ironing, but Chris encouraged me to have a go making some handles. By my second meeting, I had made my own bag. If I can do it, anyone can.”

I decided to put that claim to the test and took my place at the sewing machine. Under the watchful eye of Chris’s sister Daryl Cattaneo, I began sewing the seams of my first Morsbag. Twenty minutes later, I had made a pretty floral shopper. Granted, the handles were a bit uneven and the seams not perfect, but it was sturdy enough and fit for purpose.

Chris says the great thing about the bags is they can be folded up quite small and popped into your handbag, to be used as required.

“They are not just for food shopping,” says Chris. “I even take a Morsbag with me when I go shopping for clothes.”

Coney Street, here I come.

• Find out more about Morsbags at morsbags.com, where you can download bag patterns and find out about a pod near you (or how to set up your own).

• Meet the Kirby Baggers – and bag a free bag – at the Ryedale Show, Welburn Hall, Kirkbymoorside, next Tuesday.