I love to do crafts. The one thing I will admit, though, I never did really learn how to sew properly. So, although I love looking at all the fun projects I could sew on Pinterest, I knew that it was out of the question along with crocheting or knitting as those are also two skills I lack. I like to spend time with my daughter and stepdaughter and one of the things I like to do with them each if crafts and they both like to help with projects on my blog. So, one afternoon, I decided that if I tied the ends of something enough, it just might stay. I say a bag on another site that gave me inspiration but it had fringe and none of us really wanted that, so we decided to make one small adjustment and that was to get rid of the fringe on the bottom of the bag.
This bag works well for taking to the farmer’s markets and surprisingly, it can hold quite a few things because we tied it so intensely to get rid of the ends inside the bag. This is a perfect project to do with teens and pre-teens and it turns an old shirt that no longer fits into something usable again. I do recommend using a more vintage style shirt material (the kind that is stretchier and softer) because it is easier to work with and ties more securely. Plus, it stretches out better when it’s used as a bag.
No Sew Tote from a T Shirt
Materials you need to make a No Sew Tote:
An old T-Shirt
Scissors
(yes, it really is that simple!)
1. Start by cutting off the sleeves right at the seam. You want to get it as close to the seam as possible or just behind it because this will be the handles of your bag.
2. Next, lay the shirt flat and cut off the neckline the way it lays. You want to make sure to cut off the extra as shown in the picture below because this is the opening for your tote and you don’t want it too small.
3. At the bottom of the T-shirt, cut 1/2 inch strips about 5 inches up on your T. If your shirt is way smaller, then adjust accordingly as you don’t want to go too high up or your bag will not have any room. (The cuts on my stepdaughter’s bag in this image are a bit short. We adjusted them before she got to the next step).
4. Turn your bag inside out. Start tying the strips together. First, you want to tie the top and bottom strip together, then you will go along 3-4 more times tying random strips together. Make sure to pull the knots tight so your bag is secure.
5. You will know it is done when you try to pry it apart and it doesn’t come apart. It will look like this inside:
and this on the outside:
That’s it! If you want, you can hot glue on some embellishments, but we chose to keep ours plain.
More Fun DIY Crafts to Make with Teens:
Peppermint Hot Chocolate Whipped Sugar Scrub
Vanilla Coconut Mint Lip Scrub
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