Today we are sharing a tutorial on making a reversible eco shopping bag made from t-shirts. This bag is great for taking to the market, grocery store, library and for all those times you wish you had a reusable bag on hand. These bags are strong thanks to the double layer and super easy to make with the knot tie handles. If I can sew it so can you!

I had two t-shirts stored away for a long time waiting for a project like this one. Unfortunately, I had outgrown them but I really liked the fabric and had been thinking about upcycling them into dresses for my daughters.  I have very limited sewing skills which is why they have been sitting there for over a year. Because of my limited skills, I decided to make something extremely easy, a reversible eco shopping bag! All of my old reusable shopping bags are wearing a bit thin so it was time to get sewing!

Reversible Eco Shopping Bag Made From T-Shirts

You Need:

• A sewing machine, or a lot of time and patience with a needle and thread.
• x2 T-shirts. Ideally about the same size.
• Thread and needle.
• Scissors.

How To Make It:

-Get your t-shirts and place one on top of the other to check that they are the same size. If they are not, sew down the sides of the larger one to make it the same size as the smaller t-shirt.

-Sew along the bottom of each t-shirt. I did a plain stitch and then the zig-zag stitch to help the bag last longer.

– Cut off the sleaves of each shirt. After I did the first t-shirt sleave I placed it on top of the other shirt and did a small snip to ensure the holes on both shirts are the same.

-Now cut around the neck hole so the front and back of both t-shirts are the same.

-Place one bag inside of the other. GOOD SIDES TOGETHER. I wasn’t thinking and didn’t do this so had to spend quite some time unpicking!

-Sew the two bags together where you cut around the neck-hole.

-Now sew one of the armhole seams together. With the second armhole leave a small gap, larger enough to get a few fingers through.

-Cut ends of handles where they join at top and sew to close. These will be tied together at the end.

-Trim off any excess fabric.

-Fold the bag right-side out through the little finger hole.

-Knot the handles together.

Handsew up the small finger hole.

As you can see this bag is very easy to make! I love the knot detailing but it is possible to sew keep the handles in one piece, the challenge is folding the bag through the handles. If you make your own reversible eco shopping bag we would love to see the results!