It's All In The Bag

DIY T-Shirt Bags - I’m all about reusing and recycling to save wasting and money. Why go out and buy something that you already have in your own house and possible aren’t even using? Like the stack of old t-shirts my sister had handed down to me. She was decluttering and was just getting rid of them so I told her I would gladly go through them and choose what I would wear and anything I wouldn’t I could find something to do with.

My sister and I had also been talking about needing bags for the farmers market and grocery store. If I had reusable bags (which I do have a few purchased ones) then I could avoid collecting more plastic bags which would also mean one less trip to the recycle center every month. So I took those old t-shirts, sewed them on the bottom, cut some holes in them, and BAM farmers market bags!

Ok, so it was a little more complicated than that, but barely! It’s simple enough that almost anyone can do it. I would know because I genuinely suck at sewing. I’ve only used my mom’s ghetto machine from the 80’s a few times and definitely got frustrated a few times, but more on that later. Like I said, it’s so simple anyone with a sewing machine can do them but in the event that you don’t have the time or equipment, just send me an email and I would be happy sell some of mine and ship them to you!

Ready for the really simple instructions?

Step 1: You need shirts. I used a few adult medium t-shirts, a toddler shirt (size 2T), and a v-neck adult shirt. I’ve seen tank tops used as well that turn out cool because the shoulders turn into handles. Each style of shirt made a different shape and size of bag.

Step 2: I cut the shirts wherever I wanted to sew the bottom (tip: I flipped the shirt inside out and used sharpie to mark where I wanted to cut. I also folded the shirt in half to make sure that each side of the bag matched perfectly). I did each shirt a little bit differently. For the t-shirt I cut off below the logo that was already on the shirt. For the v-neck I just cut below the neck line. For the toddler shirt, which had an even neck line on the front and back, I just cut off the sleeves so that each shoulder strap created a handle. I wanted the bottom of my bags to be round so I cut them accordingly but you can shape them however you would like.

Step 3: I unfolded the shirt and sewed the bottom, which will then be the bottom of the bag. Don’t forget to leave your bag inside out so that the seam isn’t showing. Remember the part in the beginning when I told you I was terrible at sewing? Here’s your proof. Just to let everyone know how much I struggled, there’s a picture to prove it.

 Now to be fair, there’s a funny story that goes along with this little sewing machine mishap. You see, I borrowed my mom’s sewing machine which I’ve seen her use 100 times but have only used once or twice myself. I didn’t educate myself on how to use it, I just put my fabric in there and went to town… half an hour into the machine locking up over and over and over, I finally called mom to rescue me. She didn’t answer. So, I texted my best friend because I know she sews and is actually good at it. Apparently I had the settings all wrong and just needed to turn one dial. *Rolls eyes* Once I got that fixed, I was back in business. However, that didn’t help my skills any and Lord knows I can’t make a straight line to save my life. Good thing the hem is on the inside of the bag so no one sees it.

Step 4: Once you’ve got the bottom of your bag sewed, you’re ready to start making the slits and the handles. Again, leave the bag inside out if you’re going to use sharpie to make the lines for the slits like I did. I also left a good side area at the top with no slits to make the handles a little sturdier.  I staggered my slits and then started cutting through both layers of the shirt.

 

Once you’re done cutting all of slits, you’re ready to turn it inside out and it’s done! Easy as that, 4 steps and maybe 20 minutes. Here are the 3 different sizes I did.

A here’s the finished product:

I would love to see how your t-shirt bags turned out so please share your experiences and pictures. I’m also getting ready to try a no-sew version of the t-shirt bag so keep an eye out for that!