a productive weekend...

I finally took care of a project that had been waiting around for a few months. I took several of our old t-shirts that didn't fit or that we just don't wear and made them into reusable sacks. They're great because they crumple up to fit in a purse or glovebox, so now we'll always have one on hand when we stop for groceries. Here's how to make them:

Cut the sleeves off the shirt and trim around the collar to make thinnish straps and a deeper hole for the top of the bag.


Turn the shirt inside-out. Line up the seams along the bottom of the shirt and put in a few straight pins. Sew along the bottom, following the existing seam. I used a zig zag stitch for extra durability.



Be sure to backstitch over the ends to make sure they're secure. I also trimmed each corner at an angle like so.


If you like your bag to have square corners, turn it right-side-out and you're done!


I left the corners square on the smaller bags, but for the larger shirts, I preferred to add diagonal corners. If you'd like to do that, just stitch across the bottom corner at an angle you like, backstitching at the beginning and end. Then trim off the extra fabric.


Once I trimmed the first edge, I lined up the two corners and pinned the 2nd edge to match the angle on the 1st edge. Then I stitched and trimmed it in the same way.


And...here's what you get!


Besides making about 10 bags, I also watched "Blade Runner" and discovered a movie I hadn't yet seen starring my favorite mid-century singer/dancer, Gene Kelly.


He's such an athletic and talented dancer. I mean, when the guy's tap dancing in roller skates, how can you help but smile?


I wrapped up my weekend by making some yummy burgers for lunch today: ground bison with red onion, garlic, and rosemary, topped with feta and caramelized shallots. Waffle fries and my favorite, peppermint iced tea, on the side.

Back to work tomorrow...