Turn an unloved sweatshirt into this handy shopping bags in less than an hour!

Step 1:

Start by pressing and laying out flat with shoulder seams lined up....

Step 2:

Cut off the sleeves using the seams as a guide...

Step 3:

Cut a big "U" shape out of the neckline...

Step 4:

Turn inside out, remove ribbing, sew opening closed (I curved my corners), then turn right side out again....

Step 5:

Now for the handles. Cut 2 x 7" sections from the ribbing you just removed....

Step 6:

Fold in half lengthwise and serge (you could also zig zag or stretch stitch) all the way along the open edge. Look what it does! Cuurves into a perfect handle shape!

Step 7:

Feed one side of a handle through the tube...

Step 8:

Secure/stitch the 2 handle/strap pieces together...

Step 9:

Then slide the tube of ribbing over the join to hide it and distribute evenly. Repeat for both handles....

Step 10:

and you're done!

The beauty of this is that it provides a little more structure and support to what would otherwise be rather stretchy handles, which has kinda what put me off the idea of T Shirt bags in the past. Plus sweatshirt fabric is sturdier to begin with. I think this bag could take a few fresh apples and bananas without breaking into a sweat (unintentional pun ;)

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