That's a fantastic idea! Turning old shirts into stylish bags is a wonderful way to upcycle, reduce waste, and create unique accessories. The great thing about using old shirts, especially T-shirts, is that the fabric is usually soft, forgiving to sew, and often comes with interesting graphics or textures you can incorporate into your design.
Let's dive into how to cut up an old shirt and turn it into a stylish, functional tote bag. We'll aim for a design that balances ease of construction with a polished look.
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How to Cut Up Old Shirts and Turn Them Into Stylish Bags
This guide will focus on transforming a standard T-shirt into a versatile, unlined tote bag with a flat bottom and comfortable fabric handles. You'll learn how to smartly use the shirt's existing features to your advantage.
I. Planning Your Stylish Shirt Bag
Before you grab your scissors, a little planning helps ensure a great outcome.
Choose Your Shirt Wisely:
Size Matters: Larger shirts (adult L, XL, XXL) will yield bigger, more practical bags. Smaller shirts will make mini-totes or pouches.
Fabric Type: 100% cotton T-shirts are ideal. They're stable, easy to cut and sew, and don't fray excessively. Avoid very thin, slippery, or overly stretchy fabrics for your first project.
Design & Graphics: If your shirt has a cool graphic, logo, or interesting texture, plan where you want it to appear on the front or back of your bag. This is key to making it "stylish" and unique.
Condition: Ensure the shirt is clean, free of large holes (unless you want to patch them creatively), and ironed smooth.
Bag Style: We'll make a classic tote bag shape with a flat, boxed bottom for stability.
Handles: We'll create handles from the shirt's sleeves for a perfectly coordinated look.
II. Gather Your Materials
You likely have most of these on hand already!
Old Shirt: 1 clean, ironed T-shirt (or similar knit top). A large adult T-shirt is highly recommended for a useful bag size.
Matching Thread: All-purpose polyester thread. You can choose a contrasting color for a fun, visible stitch!
Basic Sewing Supplies:
Sewing Machine: With a universal or ballpoint needle (for knits, to prevent skipped stitches).
Sharp Fabric Scissors or a Rotary Cutter and Mat
Quilting Ruler or Measuring Tape
Fabric Chalk or Mark-B-Gone Pen
Plenty of Pins or Fabric Clips
Iron and Ironing Board
Seam Ripper (just in case!)
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III. Prepare Your Shirt and Cut Your Pieces
This is where you transform your shirt into bag components. We'll use a 1/2-inch (1.27 cm) seam allowance for all sewing.
A. Prepare Your Shirt for Cutting:
Lay your chosen shirt flat and smooth it out thoroughly.
Align the front and back perfectly, ensuring side seams match up.
Iron out any wrinkles.
B. Cut the Main Bag Body:
Remove the Top: Cut straight across the shirt, just below the armpits. Your cut line should be from one underarm seam straight across to the other. Discard the top portion (or save it for another craft!).
Square Up (if needed): You're now left with a large rectangle (or slightly tapered shape) that includes the original bottom hem of the shirt. This original hemmed edge will be the top opening of your tote bag.
If your shirt tapers significantly or is uneven, you might want to trim the side edges so that the main bag body forms a true rectangle. Make sure the front and back layers are still aligned perfectly after trimming.
Example Size (after cutting): A large adult T-shirt might give you a body that's roughly 20-22 inches wide and 18-20 inches tall (including the original bottom hem). This will make a good-sized tote.
C. Cut the Handles:
Take the sleeves you cut off the shirt.
From these sleeves, cut two rectangular strips for your handles. Aim for strips that are roughly 2.5 to 3 inches (6.3-7.6 cm) wide and as long as possible – ideally 18-20 inches (45.7-50.8 cm) long.
Tip: If your sleeves aren't long enough for one continuous strip, you can cut two shorter strips per handle and piece them together by sewing their short ends (right sides together, press seam open).
IV. Let's Sew Your Stylish Tote Bag!
Because T-shirt fabric is a knit, it doesn't fray like woven fabric. This means you can get away with fewer finished seams, which speeds up the process! However, always backstitch at the beginning and end of every seam for security.
Step 1: Sew the Main Bag Body
Take your large shirt rectangle (the main bag body). Fold it in half, right sides together, aligning the raw side edges perfectly.
Pin along both side edges and the bottom raw edge. Remember, the top (original hemmed edge) remains open.
Using your 1/2-inch (1.27 cm) seam allowance, start stitching at one top corner. Sew down that side, pivot sharply at the bottom corner, stitch straight across the entire bottom edge, pivot again, and stitch up the other side to the top corner.
Press your seams open to help the bag lie flatter and reduce bulk at the corners.
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This step is key to giving your tote a defined, flat bottom, making it much more functional than a simple pouch.
Lay your bag body flat. The side and bottom seams should be pressed open.
At one of the bottom corners, carefully bring the side seam and the bottom seam together. This action will naturally form a triangular shape at the corner. The goal is to perfectly align these two seams.
Decide on your desired box depth. For our example bag (which will be about 20-22" wide), a 3 to 4-inch deep box works well. Measure from the very tip of this triangular corner inward along the seam line a distance equal to half of your desired box depth.
Example: If you want a 4-inch deep bag, measure 2 inches (5 cm) from the tip.
Draw a straight line perpendicular to the seam at this measured point. This is your new stitching line.
Pin firmly along this drawn line.
Stitch precisely along the drawn line, backstitching securely at both ends.
Trim the excess fabric from the corner, leaving about a 1/2-inch (1.27 cm) seam allowance beyond your new stitching line.
Repeat this exact process for the other bottom corner of your bag body.
Result: Your bag now has a structured, flat bottom. Keep it wrong side out for the next step.
Step 3: Prepare and Attach Handles
Creating sturdy handles from stretchy T-shirt fabric takes a specific technique.
Prepare the Handles:
Take one of your handle fabric strips (e.g., 3" wide x 20" long).
Fold it in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press firmly. This creates a center crease.
Open it up. Fold each long raw edge in towards that center crease you just made, and press again.
Now, fold the entire strip in half again along the original center crease. You should now have a long, flat handle strip that is about 3/4 to 1 inch wide with no raw edges visible. Press firmly along the entire length.
Topstitch down both long sides of the prepared handle, about 1/8 inch (0.3 cm) from the edge. This secures all the folds and makes a neat, strong handle.
Repeat this process for the second handle strip.
Attach Handles to Bag:
Turn your main bag body right side out.
Lay the bag flat, smoothing it out.
Measure in from each side seam along the top (original hemmed) edge by about 4 to 5 inches (10-12.7 cm). Mark these points with chalk. These marks indicate where your handle ends will be placed.
Take one prepared handle. Position its raw ends on the top edge of the bag at your marks. Make sure the handle itself is flat and not twisted. Pin securely.
Stitch the handle ends in place. For a strong hold, sew a small square (about 1x1 inch) with an "X" inside it (an X-box stitch) for maximum reinforcement. Sew just above the original shirt's hemline, attaching through all layers of the bag and handle.
Repeat for the other side of the bag with the second handle.
Step 4: Final Topstitch (Optional but Recommended)
While your bag already has the original shirt hem as its top opening, adding an extra line of topstitching can make it look even more polished and durable.
On the right side of your finished bag, topstitch all the way around the top opening, about 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) from the edge. This helps reinforce the handles and gives a crisp finish.
Your cute, upcycled tote bag from an old shirt is now complete! It's perfect for casual outings, a trip to the library, carrying your crafting projects, or as a fun, eco-friendly shopping bag. Enjoy your unique creation!
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