No Sew T-Shirt DIY: The Tote Bag

Ain’t nobody got time for harming animals, polluting the sea, adding to landfill, or 5p bag charges, so in the second instalment of my No Sew T-Shirt DIY posts, I’m going to show you how to make a super cool, reusable tote bag.

You can use any t-shirt you like; the bigger the t-shirt, the bigger the bag. I happened to find one languishing in my boyfriend’s drawer with boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler gracing the front and decided to co-opt it for this project. (I got his permission to use it. Please don’t start cutting up your significant other’s clothes without asking, I can’t be held responsible for any ensuing arguments). T-shirt trivia: Marv got so sick of the announcers not referring to him by his ‘Marvelous’ nickname that he had it legally changed so they had no choice but to use it.


The Tote Bag

To make the tote bag you will need:

- A t-shirt
- A pair of scissors
- Chalk or a washable marker

Step 1
Cut the sleeves off each side.




Step 2
Using your chalk or marker, draw a curve under the collar. Make the curve shallow if you want a handbag and deeper if you want a shoulder bag.




Step 3
Cut along the line. This creates the handles.








Step 4
Before starting this step, you may want to shorten the t-shirt by 10 or so centimetres so the bag isn't overly long. Once you've lopped the bottom off, draw a line 10 cm from the bottom of the t-shirt and cut upwards in 1-2 cm intervals.









Step 5
Knot each pair of tassels together.








Step 6
In the words of Jennifer Anniston, here comes the science bit. To fill the holes between each not, lay the pairs of tassels one up, one down as shown in the photo. Next, tie each top tassel to the bottom tassel on its left. If that makes no sense, I simplified it with a diagram to avoid any confusion. Just tie A to B all the way along.




Step 7
Finally, fill your bag with books, snacks and money for ice cream and head out for an adventure.








This feature originally appeared on Sistrhood.