T-shirt Tote: a How-to

Someone on swapbot sent me a reusable bag made out of a tshirt. At first I thought, "this isn't going to hold my stuff." but then I tried it and I was wrong.

So then I thought about making these for a fundraiser for Avery. I had already said I would make some reusable bags for the fundraiser, but I wasn't really looking forward to all the cutting and sewing. So I took a look at these bags and figured it looked easy enough so I gave it a shot.

Wow! It was pretty easy and quick too. My kind of project.

So over the weekend I scoured the a few thrift stores for some marked-down t-shirts. I think I ended up buying around 30. They ranged in price from 30¢ to 99¢. I'm cheap. That's the most I'll pay for a thrift store t-shirt. I even used the original bag to carry some of the loot home with me. so, yeah, these things do work.

I am actually considering taking a few to work and leaving them in the break room for earth day. Hoping to raise awareness about reusable goods to the folks that I work with. We'll see how that goes.






So, here's a quick run-down on how I am making them.

First, I think you should get tees that have funny imprints on them. I found one that says "Are you into foursomes?" with lady golfers. I thought it was funny. Anyway, when looking for tees, make sure that there are no holes and that the fabric is 100% cotton... or a blend is ok. but I wouldn't recommend any of those sheer tees. they may work, but I wouldn't want to try them.

Now that you have your tee...

I've been ironing my tees because I like a smooth fabric to work with. Its totally up to you how you do it.



Smooth out your tee then fold lengthwise and cut the neck and sleeves off.

I try to keep as much of the image on the shirt as I possibly can. But you need to keep in mind that you'll need a wide enough opening to put stuff into it.

After cutting you'll have what looks like a tank top.




Gather the bottom sides and fold inward about two inches and pin together. This should make a gusset or whatever its called. (I don't know any other way to describe it. maybe the picture will be better help?)

Time to sew.
Sew about three or four stitches along the bottom hem. I use the smallest stitch settings on my machine to do this.



Once you've got your bottom all stitched up take care of the straps(handles).
What I did was fold over each strap and sew the layers together to hopefully make it more durable. I used a zigzag stitch.





















Voila! Now you have a reusable shopping bag!




























Now go shopping!