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Welcome my friend, Corinne, from Wondermom Wannabe.  She is most definitely a wonder mom and I’m always so interested in seeing what she has to share every day on her blog.  Todays she’s sharing a project that is near and dear to my heart (and, I’m guessing dear to yours too.)

Upcycled Bag from Old T-Shirt

I have been so inspired by Susan here at Organized 31 to explore new ways to repurpose and upcycle old items, that when she asked me to guest post I knew right away that I would share my very first repurposed project here.

I’m a runner so I have a huge collection of t-shirts. Not only do I get them for every race that I enter, I also get several from sponsors that set up exhibits during pre- and post-race events. While I have plans to convert my race shirts into a quilt someday, I’ve been at a loss as to what to do with all the other shirts.

Well, since I have a fondness for bags (so many uses!) I decided to convert some of these shirts that I don’t wear into bags that I will use. The only problem is that I have negligible sewing skills so I needed a way to do this that didn’t involve sewing. That’s right, this project requires nothing more than an old t-shirt and a pair of scissors.

First, choose a t-shirt. I chose this one from Vitamin Shoppe that I got at a marathon exhibition.

Then, cut off the sleeves and cut out the neckline in a square shape since it will be the top of your bag.

Wondering how you’re going to keep things from falling out the bottom of the t-shirt bag? Here’s the no-sew method. Make a fringe at the bottom of the shirt by cutting vertical strips 3-4 inches long and about 1/2 inch wide all along the bottom.

Then, you simply work your way along the fringe tying the strips together. IMPORTANT: Before you start tying the fringe together, decide whether you want the fringe to be on the outside or inside of your bag. I wanted mine on the inside so it wouldn’t show, so I turned the shirt inside out before I tied the strips together. My daughter thinks the fringe is a nice decorative touch so she tied hers together with the shirt turned right side out.

You can cut a couple of strips from the discarded sleeves and/or neckline to tie around each handle for decoration. (This works really well if you are making several bags from different colored shirts since you can mix and match colors.)

Tada! You’ve just converted your t-shirt into a bag that you can use every day.

See what I mean?  She is a wondermom!  Be sure to drop by her blog Wondermom Wannabe and check out more of Corinne’s wonderful ideas.