DIY Tee Shirt Tote Bag

I had some unwanted new and old t-shirts which I put aside hoping to make good use of them someday. Then I saw these articles which turn t-shirt into tote bag and thought why not… I can do it too. Here’s a DIY post which require minimal sewing and another one which require no sewing at all. The no sewing idea seems good but I was pure lazy to tie them into knots, so I choose the one with sewing.

See how I DIY-ed my tee shirt into tote bag:

1. Not sure anyone remember this tee. It’s a Threadless tee which I blogged about it here. I love this tee so much. Unfortunately it has a stain on it and I can no longer wear it out. So I decided to make this tee into a tote bag.

Anyway place the tee on a flat surface and smooth it out.


2. Use a scissors and cut the sleeves. Do not cut the seam. Leave it intact so that your tote bag will be more durable.

3. Place a plate over the neck opening.

4. Trace with tailor crayon/pen/pencil. Cut along the traced line with scissors. This will be the tote bag opening.

5. Turn the tee inside out. Pin at the bottom near the hem of the shirt.

6. Sew along the hem twice. This will be your tote bag base. Once done, turn the tee out.

7. Wah la!!! Done. Isn’t it easy?
Because I don’t like the sharp corner at the bottom, I’m going to add gusset to it so that the bag has depth (box-ed).

8. To sew the gusset, turn the tote bag inside out. Sew across the corner as shown in the picture. I’m not sure how to explain this.

9. This is how my gusset looks like after it’s completed.

Completed tee shirt tote bags:

Note: Two of the tee shirt tote bags were made from thin stretchy fabric (stupid me!) hence they’re not really useful for keeping heavy items. Make sure to use thick and less stretchy fabric to make tee shirt tote bag.