This month’s ScrapHappy make is a “no-sew” shopping bag that involved a lot of sewing. I mentioned this creation in my post about craftivism the other day, but it’s finished now and I’m quite pleased with it.
The bag itself is simply an ancient t-shirt that has been cut and knotted, but because my intention was to use it for our craftivism display, I decided to do a little felt applique. I raided my box of felt scraps and cut out the letters I wanted by eye (some from really rather small felt bits), dug out some old embroidery thread and set to. I did the applique before tying the base of the bag so that holding the fabric was easier and allowing me to keep it flat, and here is the finished bag:
If you fancy making a t-shirt bag, they take about 10 minutes to create if you don’t get carried away with the decorations. All you need is an old t-shirt – remember it’s going to have to hold stuff, so if it’s full of holes or nearly worn through it’s probably better to turn it into cleaning cloths.
First lay it out on a flat surface and cut off the sleeves:
Next, cut the neck either into a V (as shown below), or into a U-shape (as I did with the appliqued) one:
Now, make sure it’s completely flat and lay a tape measure across the t-shirt about 10 cm from the bottom (adjust to make the tassels and bag the desired lengths, remembering that your bag will stretch if you use it to carry heavy things):
Cut through both layers of fabric up to the tape measure (taking care not to cut the tape!) to make tassels each about 2cm wide:
Finally, tie the pairs of tassels (one from the front and the corresponding one from the back) together with a firm double knot:
And that’s it – a t-shirt tote bag:
Ideal for yarn storage!
I must credit Joanne Harold for showing me how to make these bags – thanks Jo!
I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) Scrap Happy posts by Kate, who provides links to other (mostly sewing) Scrap Happy bloggers at Tall Tales from Chiconia on the fifteenth of every month… do check them out.
The Snail of Happiness 
thecontentedcrafter
/ April 15, 2017That is a simply splendid idea – and as an alternative one could simply doodle all over the tee before cutting the fringe 🙂 When I give up wearing my aged tees I might just give it a shot!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 15, 2017I rather like the idea of decorating these bags in all sorts of different ways… I think that I might stitch crochet flowers on the currently un-decorated one.
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thecontentedcrafter
/ April 15, 2017Oh yes!
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katechiconi
/ April 15, 2017Clever bag, and one that would be easy to improvise if you had an urgent need for a bag and an old t-shirt that had seen better days 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 15, 2017Oh yes an emergency shopping bag.
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katechiconi
/ April 15, 2017Not that I’m suggesting you whip off your t-shirt in the middle of the shopping centre, or anything, but that’s a *quick* bag (apart from the appliqué, of course!)
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 15, 2017And there might be a charity shop handy in which to find an old t-shirt!
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arlingwoman
/ April 15, 2017I really like this. Also your letters are great, and the stitches are fabulous. I see a t-shirt bag in my future.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 15, 2017Fun and quick to make… and so many options for decoration!
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arlingwoman
/ April 15, 2017I have some old t-shirts I may try this with. Have been changing out the winter to spring summer things and weeding the shabby stuff. Unfortunately, I tend to wear things until they’re only suitable for the cleaning rag alternative.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 15, 2017I usually do that too, but I have put on weight over the years and so I have some t-shirts that don’t fit well, but are not complete rags, so perfect for this job.
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sanseilife
/ April 15, 2017A Perfect container for next knitting project Clever!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 15, 2017I’ve also just realised it would make a good lining for a knitted bag.
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Laurie Graves
/ April 15, 2017What a great idea!
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nanacathy2
/ April 15, 2017Super project for both a scrappy post and craft activism. Now kicking myself for sending two old ts to the charity shop.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 15, 2017I have been saving old t-shirts with the intention of making a memory quilt. I want to use the ones with designs on mainly, but I’ve been keeping plain ones too to use if I need some blank squares. In fact the pink ones don’t really go with all the others, so making them into bags seemed like an ideal use… and I think they were a bit too tatty for anyone else to want to wear so otherwise they would have been turned into dusters!
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Wild Daffodil
/ April 23, 2017Inspiring – as ever!
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