Sunday, January 2, 2011

Quick grocery bag from an old t-shirt



I made 5 grocery bags from t-shirts using this tutorial. Quick and easy, nothing fancy, but the will definitely get the job done at the grocery store. Now I just have to make sure to remember to bring them into the store with me when I go shopping. I plan on keeping them in the car, and on having so many of them I can always have a batch in the car, even if I forget the put some back in. Using the T-shirt to make the bag has the advantage of not needing to hem straps, because they won't fray. I did re-enforce the shoulder seams, since they are cut in the process, which does weaken them. Once you get the hang of it, it only takes a few minutes to make each bag.

I also made a bag out of an old pillowcase, cutting the straps into the top, rather like the whole t-shirt one, I did zig-zag the edges and had to sew the "shoulder seam" in the strap, but you do not have to sew the bottom, only the gussets. The pillow case bag took about twice as long as the t-shirt bags, and I think the t-shirt bags will hold up better, and they look better.

There is also another video I will in another post for making a tote bag out of 2 18 inch squres of fabric, and then a couple of pieces for straps you sew on seperately, by the green bag lady. I have 5 yards of some really cool canvas type fabric I think I am going to use for this. This pattern is also constructed simply, no lining, just zig-zaging seams (unless you have a serger). The idea is to get yourself a quantity of grocery bags, and get the DONE so they get USED. Once I have a couple of dozen simple ones, maybe I will worry about making some fancier ones. Probably not, but maybe....

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