DIY Reusable Bags
Hubby and I have a bunch of T-shirts floating around that we like, but never wear for one reason or another. I have been looking for creative ways to use them, from making throw pillows, to altering the shirts so I can wear them, to making purses. The ones for this project are just too big. I just happened to have the sewing machine set up, but this would be a very fast and easy sewing project for hand sewing, or for someone just learning to use a sewing machine. You only have to sew one straight line. Start with a cool T-shirt that you don’t wear, for whatever reason.
Flip it inside out, and sew the bottom shut. Flip it back right-side out.
Cut the sleeves off. I used the seam as a guide, and cut the whole seam off.
I then cut a rectangular area out of the neck, and you’re done!
Here’s a view of the inside, once it’s complete. They are very roomy on the inside.
Here’s the finished bag:
And I made a second one from a Ghostbusters: The Video Game T-shirt.
Total, they took about 5 minutes each. Not a bad sewing project!
T-shirt to Purse Transformation
I love my friends. They have gotten into the whole clothing swap thing, and I am profiteering like mad. I grabbed this particular shirt, thinking it was cute. I didn’t try it on at the time, and it looked HIDEOUS on me. I can’t even describe the horror. I still think it’s freaking adorable, so I decided to make it into a purse.
I started off using the seam ripper to remove that strappy, across-the-shoulders bit. This will later become the purse strap.
That strappy piece was one big loop, and fortunately it was only sewed together on on side. I used the seam ripper to get that apart too, and that gave me one long piece for the strap.
The pieces are now separated!
I folded down the top edge, and rolled it under to prevent it unraveling. There were little armpit curves on each side, so I folded everything down enough so that those were not visible. I then pinned it, and sewed along the edge.
This is the future strap. It was sewn to itself along parts of its length, but other parts, like this, had been sewn to the rest of the shirt, so when I pulled the whole thing apart there was nothing holding it shut.
I tucked the raw edges inside, pinned it, and sewed it shut. This created basically, a long tube of fabric for me to use as the strap.
The bottom of the shirt was already hemmed, so I just turned the whole thing inside-out, pinned it to each other, and sewed it shut.
For the strap, I tucked the raw edges inside the ends of the tube, and pinned the ends inside the body of the shirt. I centered them on the side seams of the shirt, and sewed them on, which hemmed them at the same time. And POOF!! We have a purse!
It’s a bit floppy, but it came out really cute. If you were going to be ambitious, you could sew a liner into it, but I didn’t feel like putting that much effort in. I enjoy looking at normal things in a new way. I have another shirt coming up that may get a make over as well, but it may be too complicated. You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out!
More Reupholstery
This is a much simpler reupholstery project than the ottoman we did recently, so I’m hoping this will illustrate the basic concepts in a simpler way. This used to be an office chair, then the back broke off. Now it’s a stool, and the vinyl is going to bits. Hubby and I have our computers set up next to each other on a long desk, so you have to walk past one of us to get to the other computer. Having a full-size desk chair in that narrow space is a pain, but this little guy fits right under the desk:
You will need, scissors, staple gun, and some cah-LASSY fabric, like leopard print:
For this small piece, I just flipped it over onto the fabric:
And cut around it:
The seat has rounded corners, so to make sure everything stays even, we fold it over on either side, staple in place, then do the other two sides. I hope I’m explaining this well!
Having the middle of each side anchored makes it much easier to do the gathers on the corners.
Here’s the finished under-side:
And the finished top. The fabric has that fur texture, which is why it looks like it has stripes in this picture, but it doesn’t. That’s just the light.
If you wanted to be REALLY clever, you could make a cover that goes on and off for cleaning. I don’t know how to deal with elastic, so I just did it this way. This would be a good place to use a t-shirt you really like, but doesn’t fit also. I love projects like this, because they add those little unique, personalized touches to your home. Plus, I get to keep a piece of furniture that fits my needs already, rather than buying something new.
T-shirt Alteration
When I went to that super swappy swap meet awhile ago, I acquired some awesome stuff, that just needed my special touch to make it perfect. This is one of those items. It’s a t-shirt dress. I love how the top fits me, but I have a little too much “junk in the trunk” for it to look good on me in the lower half.
I got Hubby to draw a line all the way around me while I was wearing it, so that I could cut it to the exact length I wanted all the way around.
It was a little longer in the back, which is just what I wanted.
I did this bad boy right. I even ironed the hem into place before pinning it. I folded down 1/4 to 1/2 inch, ironed it in place, then rolled it over another 1/2 inch and ironed that on the inside to create the hem. I then pinned everything in place. I was able to complete this project on my friend Jessica’s sewing machine (the same Jessica from the swap and several other posts), but it coughed to a tragic end right before I was done, so I hand sewed the remainder.
So now I have a nice t-shirt, that I may embellish on the front. It has a decoration on the back which was pictured in the swap post. It is really soft, and I love the fit. It may star in another post in the future. Ooh, more skulls perhaps??
Batman Tank Top
As you all know, I freakin’ love Batman. I had this old t-shirt laying around, that was massively too big for me. I could, of course, make it into another t-shirt pillow, or add it to the t-shirt quilt that has been pending for five years. I decided I would rather be able to wear it.
I cut the emblem out of the shirt, with about a half inch of fabric around it.
I then pinned it to the plain black tank top I got at Wal-Mart for $4.
I folded the edge under so it would get hemmed while I sewed it on. I used black thread and a whip stitch to tack that bad boy down.
It came out super awesome. Now I can show my Bat-pride even more!
