Produce mesh bags are the new reusable shopping totes, but why buy when you can make your own for next to nothing? Delia Randall of Delia Creates shows us how to recycle an old T-shirt—you know, the one with all the moth holes and mystery stains—into an adorable veggie carrier. "I'm not the most green person," she tells Ecouterre. "But I do believe in taking care of our earth, and I think the point is to try. The more I try to repurpose old materials and cut down on waste, the easier it gets to be more eco-minded. And every effort counts, even if just a little bit." Did we mention these bags are off-the-charts cute, too?
STEP ONE
Take an old T-shirt and turn it inside out. Draw a bag shape you like. (You can make it as small or large as you want.)
STEP TWO
Cut through both layers so you have two identical pieces. You can leave the shirt’s hem intact or snip it off.
STEP THREE
Stitch the two pieces together all the way around, leaving the bag’s opening untouched.
STEP FOUR
To prevent fraying, either serge or apply a narrow zigzag stitch to the edge.
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too cool! re-use is the best, recycle is next
love this!so innovative and fun!
Recalls to me an kirigami cut I learned when younger. Okay, I googled and found this live example:
http://www.origami-resource-center.com/kirigami-decoration.html
Just tried this – turned out great despite the tshirt I used being crappy and somehow uneven even before I cut into it! Thanks for the great tutorial and lovely pictures!
O M Gosh! I have to DO this! AND pass it on to people I know who really have the creative ability to make some wonderful reusuable T-shirt bags!!! Thanks for sharing …I’ll post it on my website at http://www.freewebs.com/onewildworld…the site is an inspirational link to bring attention to People (Like YOU) making a difference for the bestter quality of life on our blue planet OCEAN!
We ALL have ONLY O.N.E* ~ Ocean, Nature, Environment …lets keep on working on innovative and imagination and great things (like reusable and recyclable materials) to help improve our world O.N.E. Day at a Time, EVERYDAY!!!
THANK YOU for Caring too!
Yours Sincerely,
Leona Hedrick Friedley and Family
O.N.E.W.I.L.D.W.O.R.L.D. ~ Oceans, Nature, Environ, Wildlife, Indian River Lagoon (Estuary of National importance) Dolphins, (clean) WATER and ALL resources that connect us to our very healthy , quality of LIFE on the Blue Planet we call Earth/Ocean!
Just goes to show it doesn’t pay to be too far ahead of the crowd. The concept of shopping bags made from old tees was invented by a fourth grade boy -four years ago, in 2007. http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/reusable_bag_contest_1/
His mom (Abigail Vargas) was reluctant to enter the reusable bag contest with his idea (she won) because they thought the idea was “too corny”. Poor kid. Of course today you see it everywhere with no provenance given.
Love the idea! Thanks!
If you liked the T then why not make it into a bag? Reduce the waste and reuse the item for something else.