Tee Bag Tutorial

Yesterday afternoon Henry, Tommy and I left Kyle to his Sunday football glut-fest and headed on downtown for the Leington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival, or LAFF. We had a great time wandering about and seeing all the folks dressed up in their freaky gear. The best part was stopping by the interactive booth run by the fabulous Asheville Etsy Street Team where Henry got to help decorate a giant squid and make an upcycled bag out of an old tee shirt. It was such a hit I thought I'd share it with you, with many thinks and due credit to AVL Etsy (whose collective genius can be poked through by following the above link and clicking on the various and sundry shop names in the navigational bar on the right).

At the first, you need to find a tee shirt to use. I have a whole drawer full of shirts I no longer wear but can't bear to give up just yet. I chose this Flaming Lips concert tee from the time I saw them at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit a lifetime and a half ago. Good times...



After you find your shirt (if you are doing this with kids, a kid-sized shirt is a good idea) cut off both sleeves on the OUTside of the seam, like so:




Once you have gone sleeveless, give the neck the same treatment, cutting well below the seam, especially if you want to be able to sling the bag on your shoulder.



Here you have two options. I decided to go ahead and sew the bottom up.



Leaving the finished product...



For a no sew version your kids can do with minimal supervision, cut 3" strips into the bottom of the shirt and then tie them in super tight knots, giving you a super fancy fringed bottom-Kip Winger style:



These are perfect for knitting or craft project bags. For kids, they can also be worn as backpacks-just slip one arm through each hole formerly known as sleeves and off you go! If you leave the bag empty and do this, Henry discovered that it also makes a perfectly suitable cape.

All out of an old concert tee that has been sitting in the bottom of a drawer for 10+ years. Wayne Coyne would be proud.

Next up? Transforming this old RC Cola crate I found at a junk shop into super cool curio shelves for my office.



We'll see...