T-Shirt to Bag Tutorial

 

 

I had this really cute t-shirt that I love so much BUT it shrank to about 2 sizes too small. I sat around and thought about what I could do with it. I really wanted to still use it for myself so I went with BAG!! 😀

 

 

Here is how the shirt was before! SO CUTE!!!

 

 

STEP 1 –

 

Cut off the sleeves!

 

 

STEP 2 –

 

Cut off the bottom, leaving plenty of room for the bottom seam, according to how big you want your bag to be.

 

 

STEP 3 –

 

Cut off the sides, going straight down from the edge of the shoulder.

 

 

STEP 4 –

 

Cut off the shoulder seams.

 

 

STEP 5 –

 

 

Take the bottom of the shirt that you cut off and cut in half. Then take each piece and cut at the seams so that you have 2 long strips. These will turn into the handle.

Actually…… You just need to cut it at the seam, now that I think about it. LOL

When I started making the bag, I wasn’t sure if I would make one handle or two. Since I just made one, cutting them in half isn’t necessary.  You will just fold in half long ways and press.

 

SO, just cut it at the seam for one long piece! 😉

 

STEP 6 –

 

 

 

 

 

I cut a piece of black fleece and pinned it to the wrong side of the back piece of the shirt.

Then I zigzag stitched it on making an inside pocket.

 

 

STEP 7 –

 

 

Take the long piece for the handle, fold it in half and press.  Next, pin it and sew just the long side seam, making a long open ended tube.

Turn it right side out and press.

 

 

STEP 8 –

 

 

 

Place the handle on the RIGHT side of the back piece and pin the ends to the shoulders.

Now, pin the rest of the handle out of the way of all the edges.

 

 

STEP 9 –

 

 

Take the front of the bag and place it face down over the other parts. Line it up and pin.

Now, sew all along the edges, leaving the neck part open.

Turn it all right side out and press!!!

 

 

 

Now you have a great bag and you didn’t have to give away your cute tee!!! 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found that the handle was a little too long for my liking so I just tied a knot in it. 😉

 

Let me know what you think!

Was this easy to follow???

If you have any questions, just leave a comment here, on Facebook or Twitter OR use the Contact Me button at the top the of the page to shoot me an email! 😀

 

HAVE FUN SEWING!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mountaineer Girl Purse Tutorial

I’ve decided to call this purse the Mountaineer Girl Purse because of the colors! They are the colors of the WVU Mountaineers! 🙂 My favorite college football team! I can’t wait for the season to start!

Thinking about painting that door navy blue….. I hate the blah brown. 

What I used –

Less than a 1/2 yard of main

Same amount of lining 

Scraps for pocket

Scraps for handle

Velcro

The main fabric is what I won from Handmade by Hilani. The scraps for the handle were left over from the  What a Hoot skirt . 

Here we go!

Step 1 – I finished one edge of the main fabric. 2 of the edges were selvage and the other was pinked. The one unfinished edge was already starting to fray. 

Set that aside for now.

Step 2 – Turn in the edges of scraps (on 3 sides)  for the pocket and press. 

Step 3 – Turn up bottom and turn down top to create a pocket with a top. Press.

Step 4 – Sew up the edges and down the middle creating 2 pockets in 1. I also added some Velcro here for the closure. 

Step 5 – Pin the pocket to your lining. (The right side if you have one.) In hindsight I should have also stitched under the top of the pocket. Oh, well…)

Step 6 – Sew pocket to lining. 

Set that aside for now.

Step 7 –  Run a gathering stitch across the top of your main fabric. To run a gathering stitch on my machine I set the stitch length and the space between stitches to the highest settings. The I just pull slightly as the machine runs the stitch. 

Step 8 – Pin the main fabric to the lining, right sides together. 

I pinned the bottom into pleats. 

Step 9 – Sew the top, 1 side and bottom together and cut off the extra from the side seam.

Step 10 –  Turn right side out and with right sides together, pin bottom and side together.  Sew bottom and open side. 

Turn right side out.

Step 11 – Cut a strip as long as the opening of your purse by 4″ wide. 

Step 12 –  Fold up a 1/4″ on the top and the bottom. Press.

Step 13 – Fold down the middle (long ways) and press.

Step 14 – Open up and pin to the top edges of the purse. Sew in place.

Tuck one end under the other. The fold the remaining end under and tuck inside.

Step 15 – Cut a piece of scraps for your handle as long as you like by 8″ wide. 

Step 16 – Fold in half (right sides together), press, pin and  sew.

Step 17 – Turn the fabric tube right side out. Flatten out with seam down the middle and press.

Step 18 – Fold in half (length wise) and press.

Step 19 – Open up and fold ends in. Press.

Step 20 – Sew a straight line down both sides of strap.

Step 21 – Pin straps to purse and sew them on!

You are DONE!!!!

If you try this, let me know!! I would love to see it!! And, as always, let me know if you found this easy to follow!!

Sorry, Carol! The cats were behaving themselves today. 😉

Linking up to Adorned From Above

Drawstring Backpack Tutorial AKA The D Bag

D asked me to make her a drawstring backpack. She hardly ever asks me to make her ANYTHING so I jumped right on it. LOL

You will need –

1/2 yard of main fabric

1/2 yard of contrast

ribbon, rick rack, something for the drawstring 😉

Step 1 – Measure how long you will need your straps to be. Fold fabric over to where you have 4″ below the fold. Cut 2.

Step 2 – While still folded in half with right sides together, press, pin and sew.  Do the same to other strap.

Step 3 – Press flat with seam in the middle. Fold in half again, press and pin.  Do the same to the other strap.

Step 4 – Sew 2 straight lines down the straps, one on each side.  Do the same to the other strap.

Step 5 – Pin your straps to the outside of the main bag fabric.

Step 6 – Sew the end of the strap to the bag using a finishing stitch. Do that to all 4 ends.

Step 7 – Fold the strap down and sew a square with an X to reinforce it. Do that to all 4 ends.

Step 8 – Pin and sew the 2 sides of your bag.

Step 9 –  Cut a piece of contrast 4″ wide by the width of both sides of your bag.

Step 10 – Fold in half and press.

Step 11 – Fold up 1/4″ of one side and press. Do that to the other side.

Step 12 – Fold in ends and press.

Step 13 – Open the casing you just made and pin to the top of your bag.

Step 14- Sew the casing to the top of your bag, leaving the ends open.

Step 15 – Grab your drawstring, if uncut DO NOT CUT! Pin one end and insert into casing.

Step 16 – Pull out a good bit of the drawstring. Cut and sew the ends together. I used a tight zig zag stitch.

Step 17 – Knot.

You’re DONE!!!!

Let me know if you found this easy to follow!! And if you make one LET ME KNOW!! 🙂