When we saw the "before & after" contest, we were ecstatic. We love making crochet purses and nothing's better for a crocheter than saving on yarn. This hack turns an old t-shirt into a modern accessory. You can either use any t-shirt you've got lying around, or get one from the dollar store (that's what we did). Make sure the size is at least a medium so you'll have enough yarn from one t-shirt to make the purse.

Note: We'll show "materials you'll need" twice - the first is for making the t-shirt yarn and the second is for crocheting the purse.

Enjoy!

MATERIALS:

One XL Men's T-shirt
Scissors
Measuring tape

Step 1: Cut Off the Sleeves & Bottom Seam

The first step is the easiest part. You'll need to fold
the shirt in half (arm to arm). Then cut off the neck/sleeves part of the t-shirt, as well as the bottom seam. These two pieces are of no use, so you can toss them out.

Step 2: Mark the Cutting Intervals

In order to make the yarn, you'll need to cut the remaining part of the shirt into strips. The larger the strips, the thicker the yarn. You can choose to cut them somewhere between 0.5" - 1" wide Once you've chosen the size for the strips, use a pencil to mark the points faintly.

When making the strips, make sure you mark on the side where the two sides meet. This is very important.

Step 3: Cut Along the Lines

Start cutting along the intervals you've marked, until you reach about 0.5" from the edge. The picture with the number of strips is just for reference to gauge the final look of the entire piece cut up - so you might have more or less than 25 strips.

Step 4: Separate the Two Sides at the Edge

After you've cut all the strips, you'll need to "open" the centre.

Step 5: Lay the Pieces Flat

Lay the pieces on each side flat, so you can clearly see where to cut.

Step 6: Cut Across

Remember that the shirt is made of two layers - there is a top and a bottom layer (we'll labelled them as top piece & bottom piece).The first cut you'll need to make is on a slant in the top piece (refer to second picture - "cut on a slant").

Next you will cut the bottom piece straight across (refer to the third picture - "bottom piece"). The cuts follow a zigzag pattern. You'll be alternating between cutting the top piece on a slant (refer to the last picture - "top piece"), and the bottom piece straight across. Every time you cut, you'll need to flip the shirt and pull the strips into a separate pile (as seen in the first picture - "STEP 6: cut across").

Step 7: Pull the Strips Into Yarn

In order to make the yarn, you'll need to pull the strips. We've marked in the picture what pulled yarn looks like versus unpulled

Step 8: Wind Up the Yarn Into a Ball

Now you're ready to make the bag.

Step 9: Begin Crocheting

In order to make the bag you'll need the following materials:

T-shirt yarn
Tapestry needle
Crochet hook
Scissors

ABBREVIATIONS (US Terminology):

sc = single crochetst (s) = stitch (es)

TECHNIQUES:

You’ll need to know how to crochet in the round. The entire bag is made using a single crochet stitch. If you’re new to crochet, Wool and the Gang has great tutorials for beginners.

TO BEGIN:

Chain 45, joining in the ring with a sc.

Step 10: SC Across

Continuing working in sc across 11 rows.

Step 11: Sew Up the Bottom

Turn the bag inside out, using the two chain spaces as your guide for how to line up the edges. Sew in the bottom using a scrap piece of t-shirt yarn.

Step 12: All Done

Bling it up, accessorize it, add your own personal touch!

Check out our other tutorials on how to crochet a Red, White, & BAE purse and an HBC clutch.

Introduction: Turn a T-shirt Into a Crochet Purse