Sweatshirt Bag

sweatshirtbag09

Have an old sweatshirt lying around that you don’t really wear, isn’t comfy or was grown out of? Maybe one you got at some random event for free or as a prize and now sits in the very back of your closet because it’s just not your style? I came up with the solution of turning it into nice little tote bag! It is super easy to make and only requires very basic sewing skills.

Supplies: sweatshirt, cloth scissors, sewing machine, thread, and about 30 minutes to spare!

sweatshirtbag02

Cut the shirt using the above diagram if you want to use as much of the fabric as possible and make as large of bag as possible. I used a size small basic sweatshirt. Of course you could also make it smaller if you wanted to, especially if you are using a rather large shirt. I simply wanted to see what size bag I could get from the small one I had.

Cut through both sides of the shirt so you get two of each piece. Center = front & back, Left side = sides, Right side = straps, and next picture below shows how I used the rest of the right side arm for the bottom piece (you only need one of these.)

sweatshirtbag05

To make the bottom of the bag I used the rest of the right side sleeve (in previous picture above).

sweatshirtbag03

Fold the strap pieces in half the long way so that the right sides are facing each other. Pin and stitch them!

sweatshirtbag04

Once the straps are stitched, use pinking shears or make a zig-zag pattern using cloth scissors to help prevent fraying as well as make it easier to turn right side out. Then you want to turn them right side out now. This proves to be pretty tricky, so try and be patient.

sweatshirtbag06

Pin the bottom of your bag to the bottom side of your front and back pieces and stitch them together.

sweatshirtbag07

Pin your side pieces to the sides and bottom of the bag. (It should start looking like a bag now!) Stitch everything together!

sweatshirtbag08

Hem the top of your bag byt 1/2 – 1 inches and pin your straps into place. Stitch everything together! I added a little extra stitching to the straps, seeing that they most likely will be getting the most wear and tear.

sweatshirtbag09

You now have a cute little bag and made a small dent in cleaning out your closet!

Please share any ideas or sweatshirt bags you create!

-Holly

Enhanced by Zemanta

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>