A carrying bag comprises at least one extensible panel forming at least a part of the external walls of the bag. The extensible panel is of a composite material composed of a sheet of a stretch-knit fabric and a multiplicity of elongated strips of a durable, substantially non-extensible material joined to the fabric sheet in closely spaced relation by stitching located proximate to the centers of the strips, thereby leaving portions of the fabric sheet underlying the major portions of the strips free to stretch.