Grocery tote bag tutorial

After resolving here the other day to always remember my reusable tote bags, I already went into a store without them today. No worries. I was only buying a few items, so I threw them in my purse.

But it reminded me of a tutorial I wrote last spring about how to turn an old T-shirt into a tote bag. I happened to use a Bloomsday T-shirt for this project (as you can see above). It’s quite a conversation piece when I use it, probably because about 45,000 other people have the same shirt.

I made this bag with two T-shirts, actually—one for the outside and one for lining. You could make this project super simple by just using one T-shirt and skipping the lining. Just turn the shirt inside out, sew the bottom opening shut (the part where your waist goes), turn it right side out, cut the sleeves off and cut around the neckline to make it a tank top, snip away the seam that connects the front and back at the shoulders, then tie the front two straps together and the back two straps together and use them as handles.

Got it? Good!

Anyhow, here’s the full tutorial for anyone who wants to go the extra mile:

You will need two T-shirts of the same size and basic sewing supplies. Decide which T-shirt will be on the exterior of the bag and which will be the lining.

Lay the exterior T-shirt flat on a table and cut off the sleeves, removing the seam that connected the sleeves to the body of the shirt. Also cut around the neckline, making that opening bigger as well. The shirt’s original shoulders will become the tote bag’s handles when you’re done.

Place the exterior shirt on top of your other shirt, which will be the bag’s lining. Follow the same steps, cutting off the sleeves and neckline of the second shirt, but leave about an inch more of the fabric than you did with the exterior shirt.

Now, place the lining shirt inside the exterior shirt, either with the logo facing out or in – it’s up to you. Line the shirts up as best you can, and then fold the lining fabric over the exterior fabric all along the old sleeve and neck openings. Fold the fabric over twice, pinning as you go, then sew.

Finally, turn the bag inside out and sew the bottoms of the shirts together. I rounded the sides so the bag would have a bubble effect and look less like a T-shirt.

Turn the bag right side out again and you’re ready to load it with Cheerios and bananas.

Want other ideas for transforming old T-shirts? There are several books available on what many people call “T-shirt surgery,” including: ” Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt ,” ” 99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Trim and Tie Your T-Shirt Into Something Special ,” and ” Sew Subversive: Down and Dirty DIY for the Fabulous Fashionista .”

Online, visit www.ohmystars.net/craft or community.livejournal.com/t_shirt_surgery for instructions and inspiration.

If anyone follows these directions and makes their own T-shirt tote bag, please please please e-mail me a photo (megan.cooley@comcast.net) so I can post it on this blog. Or e-mail me photos of other grocery tote bags you’ve made—I’d love to show those off here as well.