Go Stylishly Green With Reusable T-Shirt Shopping Bags

I do a lot of grocery shopping. I do a big shop once a week, but I always forget something, somebody needs something, or (my personal favorite) "guess what we just ran out of?" So I practically live at the grocery store. I go through a lot of plastic bags, and I do usually recycle them in the container provided just for said purpose, but I've been feeling kinda earth conscious lately. So I recycled some old t-shirts into reusable shopping bags. Double eco-friendly brownie points for me since I'm using old t-shirts :) Now I'm thinking about brownies :(

So I grabbed me some t-shirts and tank tops.

 Then I grabbed scissors, thread and my sewing machine. I started by cutting off the sleeves and the collar. 

Then I turned the shirt inside out, pinned the bottom hem and prepared to sew the bottom together.

 I also did a quick tack stitch at the seam ends where I cut the collar and sleeves off, just to prevent any coming apart at the seams. With my luck, the bag would come apart and eggs would come crashing out, leaving an ooey, gooey mess. This has happened to me before with a plastic bag. It is NOT fun. Except for the jerk in the car next to me.

I ran a straight stitch along the bottom, using the hem as my guide. I then went back over the straight stitch with a zig zag stitch to reinforce the bottom and make it stronger. 

 I cut off the excess, turned the bag right side out, and boom, I got me a brand new bag. I did the same thing with a tank top, except (obviously) I didn't cut off the sleeves or collar.

 I use Oscar on days when I feel a little grouchy (or outright hostile, whatever).

Next I decided to try a no sew bag. It wasn't completely no sew, as I did reinforce the seams where I cut them (after the egg incident, I'm not taking any chances). After I cut the sleeves and collar off, I cut off the hem and made a line where I wanted my fringe to start.

I thought a beach t-shirt would be cool for a fringe-bottomed bag. Kinda reminds me of those t-shirts you can get at the beach that have the fringed bottoms. Anyway, I then started to cut my fringe.

Then all you do is take two pieces and make a double knot, the kind you do when you want to tie someone's shoelaces together. So easy, even a blonde can do it. And yes, I am a blonde. So it really is that easy.

And here is the finished bag. 

Here is another one. You can stuff loads of stuff in these bags, especially if you use men's t-shirts. I should try to find xxx-large shirts. Just think of how much you could cram in one of those babies!

I made a bunch of these bad boys and was pretty impressed with my bad self. They look awesome and really hold a lot of stuff. I put cereal boxes, crackers and soup cans in these for demonstration purposes. I put four 2 liters of soda in one at the grocery store (you had to buy four to get the sale price, really) and it carried them all without a problem. Which is pretty cool, if you ask me.

So that's one way I'm doing my part to preserve Mother Earth for future generations. And I look cool doing it. Well, at least I think I do.

Chris :)