The T-shirt Bag

When my aunt saw my jersey bag and mentioned me making her a bag with an old t-shirt, I figured it'd be a breeze. I knew sewing with knit wasn't a walk in the park, but I was pretty confident that I could do it. For Pete's sake, I will NEVER sew another thing with knit again. Seriously, oh. my. goodness. I was a nervous wreck, and was pretty convinced I had ruined her shirt forevermore! I guess it turned out *decent* (which is pretty debatable actually). I was all geared up to do a tutorial, and I sort of did, but I'm telling you people- run for the hills! Don't attempt this! My tutorial is choppy because 1) my camera died about 5 pictures in and 2) I was so frustrated and ticked off I didn't care about pictures or tutorials anymore- I just wanted to FINISH the dumb thing! Anyway, moving on to what I have... :)


If you're crazy enough to attempt this, just remember I warned you! Gather your supplies- your t-shirt, lining fabric, fusible fleece, belting for the strap and all the cutting materials- cell phone and coffee are optional but highly recommended!
I started but cutting right across the bottom so I could work a little easier with the sides. I cut a few inches off the bottom, but left a few under the design since I knew I'd be sewing it to be "boxy" and it would lose a few inches at the bottom.
Cut the sleeves off by cutting up each side. I went 2 inches from the design.
Cut the top straight across directly under the neckline (or somewhere above the design and under the neckline if your shirt is larger)
I thought I was pretty much a genius by using masking tape to keep the edges from pulling when I sewed, so I added that and then pinned the sides right side together. (BTW, I'm totally not a genius and my idea pretty much STUNK!)
Then cut your lining fabric the same size as your measured piece of cut t-shirt. My shirt was 15.75 in by 17.5 in. My used a long piece for the lining and folded it in half, so I cut it .5 in shorter to allow for the missing seam allowance on the bottom.
Then cut matching fusible fleece to be ironed to the lining fabric
Iron the fusible fleece to the lining material
Cut a piece of lining fabric to be used as a pocket (I made mine shallow but long so it covered the entire length of the bag and made 3 smaller pockets- not necessarily by design but because that was the size the left over lining material was and I'm too cheap to throw it out). Sew around the edges with right sides together, leaving an opening to turn right side out. This is when my camera died, so after you turn it right side out, clip the corners and iron it flat, turning in the opening.
Pin in place on the lining, but keep in mind that you'll lose about 1/2 in at the top for the seam allowance. Be sure and pin the opening down, because you'll want to sew it shut when you sew around the pocket.
Sew the sides and bottom of the pocket. I then sewed up two more lines to make 3 pockets.
You could even do yours straight. I mean, if you really wanted to...


Sew up both sides of the lining, but leave an opening to turn the bag right side out.

Now the most fun part (I'm completely kidding now). Sew the sides and bottom of the t-shirt. Nothing I tried made this easy or even anything close to easy. It was horrible. I finally decided to go look online to find some tricks to sewing knits but lo and behold my internet was down... Stinkin' Time Warner. UGH! So I just kept struggling until (after about 2 hours. Seriously) I finally finished...
Then mark a line across the corners of the bag- both the t-shirt (which I didn't photo because it was just a continuation of the train wreck that is sewing knit) and the lining, and sew across to make the boxy part of the bottom. Cut the excess off and turn the t-shirt right side out and place inside the lining (so right sides are still together). Pin the strap where the seams meet on the sides and place the strap between the right sides of the fabric. Sew around the top, double stitching where the straps are connected then turn right side out and push the lining down into the bag. I had to finally hand sew the opening (which I never do because it's easier to machine sew normally) but the machine and I werent' friends by this point...
Then (after a gruelling morning) you're done. There it is... all that work and it's sort of lopsided. Oh, my. I hope my aunt doesn't cry when she sees that I butchered her shirt. :( Sorry Aunt Bon!

Here is the final bag- the inside:
The whole she-bang...
Maybe the fact that there's a hottie on there will make up for the poor worksmanship!

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