Plastic Bag Pollution & T-Shirt Waste

Written by: Lindsey Walker

Americans use about 100 billion plastic bags a year [1]. An average bag is used for about 12 minutes before being disposed of [2]. Only around 1% of bags are returned for recycling [3]. Most bags enter a landfill, where they will take years to degrade, or enter the ocean, where they kill an average of 100,000 marine animals a year [4]. Using a reusable t-shirt bag rather than a plastic bag is great way to reduce your plastic waste, and prevent a t-shirt from going to a landfill.

How to make a T-shirt bag without a Sewing Machine

1. The first thing we are going to do is trim our t-shirts. Using a pair of scissors, cut off the sleeves of your t-shirt. Try to cut as evenly as possible by using the sleeve seams as a guide.

2. Next, cut off the collar of the t-shirt. Make a square cut by cutting a few inches down, and then turning your scissors 90° to cut towards the center of the t-shirt. Try to make a deep cut to have a big opening to put items into.

3. After completing steps 2 and 3, you may want to look over your t-shirt and trim any uneven edges.

4. Now that you have finished trimming your shirt, lay it on a flat surface and smooth the wrinkles in the shirt.

5. Optional – You may want to cut off the hem of your shirt to create a cleaner look with your fringe, but it is not necessary.

6. Use a pair of scissors to cut ½ inch strips of fabric, cutting 4 inches into the shirt. Be sure to cut through both layers of fabric. You can vary the size of your cuts depending on how much fringe you want your bag to have. I turned my bag inside out and made markings on the shirt to achieve the size of fringe I want, but this is not necessary.

7. After cutting these strips all the way down the t-shirt, tie each corresponding front and back end to each other, creating knots all the way down. You can do this by taking your bottom strip, and tying it over and under your left strip. Then, take your new top strip and tie it over and under your bottom strip.

8. To ensure that your bag is secure and can sustain a heavy load, tie knots all the way down the t-shirt by tying the front of one knot to the back of the adjacent knot.

How to make a T-shirt bag with a Sewing Machine

1. The first thing we are going to do is trim our t-shirts. Using a pair of scissors, cut off the sleeves of your t-shirt. Try to cut as evenly as possible by using the sleeve seams as a guide.

3. After completing steps 2 and 3, you may want to look over your t-shirt and trim any uneven edges.

4. Now we will begin using our sewing machine. Start by turning your t-shirt inside out, so that when we turn it back, the seam you sewed will not be visible.

5. Turn on your sewing machine, and set your machine to a straight stitch. If your material is stretchy you may want to change your stitch to a zig-zag, as this works better for stretchy material. Line up the hem of your t-shirt and place it under the foot of the machine.

6. Once you are ready to sew, place your foot down and begin sewing slightly to the side of the hem. Use the hem as a guide to ensure that your stitch is straight. After a few stitches, reverse your machine over your stitch to ensure that it does not come undone.

7. Sew through to the edge of your shirt. At the end of your stitch, once again reverse your machine for a few stitches to ensure that your stitching does not come undone.

8. Once you have sewed to the end of your shirt, lift the foot of your machine back up, and pull the shirt away from the back of the machine so that a length of a string is exposed. Use your scissors to cut the string close to the shirt, so that there is still plenty of string on the machine. This will prevent the string from getting caught or twisted around the needle.