I Have a Recycling Problem: Reusable Shopping Bag Tutorial

I don't consider myself a very sentimental person (I grew up moving every other year, there's not a ton of room for sentiment in the back of a moving van), but I am a little ridiculous when it comes to recycling. Empty bottles= vases, Old glass jars= drinking glasses or, if it still has the lid, a container for my ever expanding sourdough starter. Old Altoids tin? Perfect bobby-pin keeper. Old t-shirts? Over the summer, pre-housebreaking we used them as blankets for Oliver's crate (the breeder recommended it as a cheap, disposable way to keep him warm, and a bonus: he got used to our scent really quick). I purged my closet over the summer and found that, even after donating half my unwanted t-shirts to the cause of puppy toilet training I still had a ton of t-shirts that I didn't wear, but didn't want to throw away. I wasn't feeling nostalgic about the shirts-- my aunt had graciously turned some of the shirts that did have sentimental value into a t-shirt blanket last year. It just seem so wasteful to just throw them away. I brought a few to goodwill and kept a few more, certain that I could find a repurpose for them.

I also really like the idea of reusable shopping bags, but somehow always forget mine at home when I go to the store. Or I use them to bring aforementioned t-shirts to goodwill and forget to ask for the bag back. Consequently, I've felt like I've had a shortage of reusable bags this year. It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted to turn these t-shirts into grocery bags.

It did, however, take me a long time to get around to doing just that. These t-shirts have been sitting in my fabric basket for nearly two months. Which is crazy considering how easy this tutorial actually is.

Here's what you'll need:

-T-shirts
-Fabric Scissors (if you don't have a pair of these and are interested in getting into sewing- make these one of your first purchases (after a sewing machine of course) you won't regret it)
-Pins
-Sewing Machine with thread of choice.

1. Turn the shirt inside out. Pin along the bottom hem of the t-shirt. If you want the bottom of the bag to curl upwards you can turn that last pin up about 45 degrees (I eyeballed it). Sew the hems together. Cut off excess fabric.
2. Turn the shirt right side out. Cut off sleeves.
3. Cut off neckline and as much fabric as you want to make the handles. You can see I lined up the fabric I took off with the bottom of the arm holes.

4. *Optional* You can cut horizontal slits in the upper two thirds of the bag (I messed up and cut them all over the green bag on the far right hand side. I haven't used it yet because I am worried stuff will fall out).

These bags are super easy to make and they hold a lot of stuff, as evidenced by the first picture. In just one bag I had two onions, two head of cauliflower, a bag of carrots and a bag of potato chips.

Easy enough! Happy crafting, now I just hope I can remember to bring these to the store the next time I go!

 Love, Madelyn