April 20, 2013

Shopping Bag DIY

Earth Day is Monday.  It is one of my daughter's favorite holidays.  Her birthday is near Earth Day, and so she feels very in tune with it.  She is my little Earth Girl.  She loves projects that give her the opportunity to recycle, reuse, or reduce.  This year for our Earth Day project we re-purposed two of her favorite shirts into re-usable shopping bags.  She outgrew the shirts a couple of sizes ago, but couldn't bear to let them go, so with a few cuts and about 5 minutes worth of sewing we converted them to shopping bags she can use for years to come.  (Stains and all!)  The whole project only took about half an hour, and is simple enough for an 8-10 year old to do independently. Here is what we did...
Start with any t-shirt.  (Non-fitted shirts will give you more square bags.)
Choose old shirts from your closet or hit up your local thrift store.
Cut off the sleeves as close to the seam as you can without cutting the serged edge.
Not cutting the finished edge of the fabric will help prevent fraying.
Turn the shirt inside out and fold it in half.  Use chalk or pencil to mark where you
want to cut around the neck.  Use straight pins to hold the layers of fabric in place.
Cut along the line you drew.
Here is what it will look like at that point.
Flip the shirt inside out again, and sew a straight stitch across the bottom hem.
Here is the finished product.

 What ideas do you have for recycling, reusing, and reducing?

 Karissa



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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 30, 2013 at 2:55 AM

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    ReplyDelete
  2. mamtaMarch 12, 2014 at 12:55 PM

    its really very good and easy

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 13, 2014 at 10:08 AM

    Thanks did you know you can make diapers from old T-shirts for Luther World Relief? Cut off the hem. cut off the body of the T-shirt below the sleeves to create a piece about 16" tall. Cut up the center of the front of the T-shirt creating a long rectangular piece of fabric. Trim to measure 16 x 36 or 16 x 39 depending on the length available.. Fold the left third of fabric over to cover the center third . If there is a design on the shirt fold it so it is on the inside. fold the right third over to cover the center third. creating a three-layer piece. Fold over the raw edge of the top layer and zig zag stitch where the three thicknesses meet on the left and right side. Zig Zag the top and bottom so the diaper is closed on all sides. Finished size should be approximately 12-13 x 16".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Audrey V.July 18, 2014 at 12:01 PM

      Thanks for this diaper Idea !! I've heard of it, and will try making one. I just wish more American mother's would use cloth diapers. I used 3 doz. pre-folded for my 2 children, & it saved us a TON of money, and kept disposables out of landfills. Keep on recycling !!

      Delete
    2. UnknownNovember 4, 2015 at 11:45 PM

      The bags and diapers are great ideas - half price day at goodwill would get you a shirt for about a $ if you don't have any you want to use. Goodwill here has half price day on 1st Sat of each month.

      Delete
  4. AnonymousOctober 17, 2014 at 4:05 PM

    What a great idea! Soooo simple yet useful. Have been a recycling all my life. Use empty bottles to make Christmas decorations; toilet paper roles for flowers, decorations, egg cartons for Christmas and Easter crafts; scrape yarn for homeless blankets, scrape material cut into equal pieces for quilts.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 18, 2014 at 2:04 PM

    Cuter than cute and easy. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. natwillsbrgAugust 5, 2015 at 10:35 PM

    I like to reuse old pillowcases and make it into bags that fold in on itself. For pictures, click here https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=937574056288327&set=pcb.937574129621653&type=1&theater

    They are really easy to make. You cut the open folded end off, (this is good for pillowcases that have a wider folded edge opening) then cut 2 4 inch pieces of the pillowcase, cut them open as these will be the straps. Fold them wrong sides together, then turn out, see on the remaining piece which is the bag. Take first piece cut and make a 6 by 15 inch rectangle, make narrow hem on all 4 sides. Fold right sides together (this will make sense once bag is folded in), and fold it almost in half. One end about half inch over the other. Sew inside as middle pocket on 3 ends. Once finished, fold bag up into the pocket, use the flap to make into a pocket

    ReplyDelete
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