Two T-shirt Totes

I am so thankful for the men and women who have given their lives for this beautiful land I call home.  Thanks to those of you who are still giving of yourselves in this way.  We are certainly a blessed country!
For those of you that had the privilege of relaxing on this day…I hope it was all you wanted it to be!
Our day was a little different…although I got to relax, it was not really what I had in mind!

Let’s just say Jillian Michaels and I got into it and she won…Oh, well.  I’ll be back at it soon.
My men worked in the 90 degree temperatures putting on my new steel roof.  So I sat, watched, and of course supervised.

They got the garage done and it looks wonderful!  Next, on to the house roof.  I’ll show you pics when we’re all finished.
Anyway, on to the project of the day…today I’ll show you how to make two tote bags made from old t-shirts.  One is an over the shoulder bag and the other is more like the grocery bag style.

First, the grocery bag style
Start with an old t-shirt…we seem to have plenty of these lying around…stained, too small, or whatever.

Next cut off the sleeves.

Take a plate…I used my regular dinner plate and trace and cut a semi-circle at the top of the shirt.  If you want a smaller opening for your bag, just use the neck hole that is already there.

The top will become your opening and handles.

Next, turn the t-shirt inside out and pin and sew up the bottom of it.  I made two seams in the bottom for extra strength.  I know my sewing accuracy is still lacking…
After you sew the bottom, just turn them right side out and they are ready for use.

They can be used for grocery bags, goodie bags, or whatever you need a tote for.
The next tote is the over the shoulder one.  This is my favorite.

Take an old t-shirt and cut it as seen below.

Cut just under the sleeve with a rounded edge.  This gives you a rectangle with curved edges at the top.  Depending on which side you want facing out when your bag is complete, you may need to turn your shirt inside out before you begin sewing.  Now sew along the top of the rectangle where the curved edge is.  (The part you just cut off from the sleeves) I made two seams here too…I want to be able to hold lots of stuff in these bags without the bottom ripping out!

Now you flip your t-shirt around where the bottom of the t-shirt has a nice hem in it from the store…this will be the top of your bag.

You can draw a line and then cut approximately 7 inches across the t-shirt.  This of course will depend on what size t-shirt you use.  This is a men’s medium.  Leave 2 1/2 to 3 inches uncut on each side.  This long slit will be the over the shoulder hole.  It may look small…trust me…it will stretch.

Once you get this done, carefully (without ripping out the bottom of your bag) stretch out your t-shirt tote.  Once you start adding contents it will stretch out some more.

 

The one below wasn’t as stretchy of a t-shirt so I cut some extra slits in it.  It would work great for produce from the Farmer’s Market or flip flops and toys for the beach.

That’s what you do!  They are really easy…taking only a few minutes each and come in super handy!  So, go search for some old t-shirts…I know you’ve got ’em!