My friend Elizabeth has the coolest book filled with easy, creative bag & purse patterns, Simply Sublime Bags ... last weekend we decided to try out one of the projects...turning old t-shirts into tote bags. Here's a play-by-play of the process. After cutting off the arm-holes, you line the inside with duct tape. I chose red because it was much more fun than the regular silver variety. Turned out that once you line it with tape, you can't put it on!...
This particular pattern was listed as being no-sew (you secure everything with staples!). We weren't quite sure about the staples, so we did use a sewing machine on the bottoms...
However the next part was way to thick for the sewing machine to handle, so we did try out the stapling technique, which actually worked quite well. Turns out that when you reinforce the staples with another layer of duct tape, it's pretty durable...
We figured out some adjustments that we'd want to make next time, but overall they actually turned out pretty cute. Here's me with my finished project...an "I Love NY" t-shirt bag!
And there it is...the latest installment of my crafting endeavors. Until next time (which will probably be tonight, as I sit on my couch and knit...but that's not nearly exciting enough to blog about!)
Huh. Duct tape and staples. Who knew? I should tell my non-sewing sister about it. And I find knitting very exciting. Probably because I don't know how and it seems like a good use of time when you're watching tv at night :-).
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