Today's quick little sewing project was the t-shirt bag. I got this "I <3 nerds" t-shirt from a person who was trying to make me wear more white. Well, he failed, since i only wore the shirt once and even then i felt uncomfortable. It was just too big and... white. I tried to figure out what to do with it. Should i make it smaller so that i could wear it? I didn't really like the sound of that idea. So when i found the idea of making a shopping bag out of a t-shirt by Martha Stewart i knew just what to do. This way everytime i go shopping or when i need to carry something, i can show off my love for nerds without having to wear it on me.

Here are the instructions for my version of the t-shirt bag:

First you fold the shirt in half and pin together the fabrics from the spots where you will cut, so around the neckline and the shoulder seams. Cut the pieces off along the pinline and unfold the shirt to see if it looks good to you. I thought why not waste good fabric so i though i could make a little  inside pocket from the leftovers. I took one of the sleeves i cut off and cut a pocket shape out of it. I turned the shirt inside out and pinned the pocket to the "wrong" side of the backside of the shirt. Make sure you only pin it to one of the fabric layers, not both of them. Then i sewed the pocket on.

Next i unraveled the bottom seam of the shirt and with the shirt turned inside out i pinned and sewed the bottom seam shut. For extra strength i zig zag sewed it also and i rounded the corner a bit. I zig zagged the former neckline and arm holes and that's it. The bag is finished.

 

I tested my new bag already when i went food shopping and it worked well. I carried atleast 5 kg with it, including 2,5 kg of watermelon... It goes into quite small space also. I always carry with me atleast 1 or 2 cloth bags. I never buy plastic bags unless if i have to.

The t-shirt bag also doubles as an emergency shirt since you can still wear it if you open the bottom seam with for example your loyal pocket knife (which every MacGyver fan always carries with them everywhere they go along with a pack of gum and a paperclip), a shuriken (good option for all you ninjas out there) or your incredible Hulk powers.

 

Kauppakassi -  Kangaskassi - T-paita - Hyötykäyttö