reuse, recycle

100 Ways to Transform a Tee Shirt: 11 (Updated)

The original tutorial can be found here, but I finished it today so here’s the final product:

I got this purse from the thrift store for 3 dollars and deconstructed it. I used the chain for this purse (and i still have a bunch left over for some bracelets ;3) and the leather cord for this bracelet.

I still plan to use the rest of the purse, but I think I’m going to have to wait until we get a new sewing machine.

I made a more comfortable spot on the strap. Also, on the back I just glued down the fabric without making the fringe. The bottom line of this was that I ran out of shirt, but it was a lot easier and not to mention it just looks cleaner.

100 Ways to Transform a Tee Shirt: 11

A fringed clutch!

Materials: scissors, an old unused bag (mine was a dingy makeup bag), a hot glue gun, your tee of course, and you also might want to grab a ruler.

Step-By-Step:

1. Measure the length of your purse/bag. The length of mine was 11 1/2 inches. Now, use this measurement to create strips that are 3-3 1/2 inches wide and your needed length. (My strips were 11.5 X 3.5 inches)
2. Cut slits to make fringe, about 1 cm wide and 2 inches long, on the length of your strips.
3. For attachment, I started by cutting a 2 inch wide strip to finish the bottom with. this is optional, it just looked better because of the seams on the bag.
4. Attachment of the fringed strips with hot glue is in many ways up to you, and depends on the style of your bag. I just glued mine on to the front and back, and then attached a separate strip to run along the sides and bottom.
5. Overlapping is another thing kind of up to you. It all depends on the look you’re going for! I just lined mine up so that they overlapped as little as possible, so that the cuts in the fringe are just far down enough that there is nothing behind the strips shown. You can see what i mean (kind of) in the picture above. It might take a few tries, it did for me anyway. But after they are all glued on, it gives a great effect!
6. Spice your own up with beads, buttons, charms, or not. I plan on thrifting a chain for a strap. This is medium difficulty, but you’ve got room for error. And it takes a lot of glue. But I’d say it’s worth the work, isn’t it adorable? :)

100 ways to transform a t shirt: 3

artisanat:

a simple, no sew drawstring bag. or you might have to sew it. im doing this as i go along. so yeah, if you have to sew it then sorry in advance :3 LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS TO DEFEAT THE HUNS.

1. acquire le t shirt.
2. cut the top off, as shown. don’t worry about it being super straight.
3. the bottom of the t is going to be the bag and the top is what we will make the straps out of. so, where there is no design on the shirt, cut strips less than one inch wide. try to make these a bit more even. how many strips to cut depends on how long you want your strap to be. i want long straps, so i cut 11 strips. stretch your strips out so they become little tubes. a tip for these: i wouldnt suggest cutting your strips from the logo because many logos prevent the fabric from rolling when stretched. if you are unable to cut enough strips, just cut them from the top of the bottom half of the t.
4. now, take that part of the t, and cut slits on the opposite sides of the hem. i used paint to help because a) my webcam is not capable of that kind of detail and b) this shirt is dark so it’d be hard to see anyway. but this is what i’m talking about:
5. now, thread one of your tubes through one side and another through the other. it would probably help to use a large plastic needle or you can fashion one out of a wire, possibly a hanger. here is a visual aid and my inspiration for this bag so you can see what i mean:   thats how it should look when you are finished. here’s mine:
6. next, make sure those strings are even. now we can move on to le strap. after creating the drawstring effect, i have nine tubes. using 8, i tied 2 together in a small, tight knot. now i have 4 long tubes. using the extra, i wrap where the knots are. this also gives a handle effect. to wrap it, i tied a knot around one of the strings and went around until i ran out. towards the end i flattened the tube out to give it a smoother finish. i tied a knot and pushed the remaining strip under the upper layer of the wrap. this is how it came out:
7. now i am going to braid the four strings on both sides. if you don’t know how to braid with four, i love the way this looks. of course, you may have more/less tubes. i would simply consult google. and here’s how it turned out:
8. as for attachment, i had a few problems. in retrospect, i went about this the wrong way. if you’d like to save yourself trouble, DO NOT do it this way. im simply showing how i did it, but if you hold everything to do with the straps, i will show you a MUCH easier way to do it at the very end of this tutorial. my first second and third techniques failed, but FINALLY, i found a solution. this is what the end of your braid will look like if you do it the same way i did the black/yellow diamond is where you are going to put the drawstrings, one through the front and one through the back. now push one to each side. since you now have 3 tubes on each side, you can braid them. this will secure all of the tubes together without a clumsy looking knot. if you didnt do it the way i did, i guess hit my ask and i’ll see if i can help you out.
9. to finish the braids, i took just one of the tubes and made a knot around the other two. this method should be secure enough to hold. trim the edges if you wish. voila.
10. now we need to go about the bottom. i am just going to sew it. if you’re just doing a straight line, using a sewing machine is ten thousand times easier than what im going to describe to you. not to mention it just creates a much more quality finished edge. okay, first, cut 1 inch by 1/2 inch strips out of the bottom of your bag, as shown. make sure there are an even number of strips. now, turn your bag inside out. tie the opposite strips together, making sure they are as tight as possible so there are no holes for small items to slip through. turn back out and voila. you are finished. although this method in theory should work, if you know how to operate a sewing machine it is so much more efficient in every way. but there you have it.

OKAY. i said i would tell you a much easier way to do steps 6-9, and here goes.

the best thing about this method is that it doesnt matter how many strips you are working with, as long as you have an odd amount. let’s assume we have 7 strips. instead of tying them together to attain longer strips, leave them separate. take 3 of the strips and overlap the ends with the ends of the drawstrings. tie them together in one of these knots. of course you will have 5 strings instead of one, but i hope you understand what im saying. do this with the other three with the other end of the drawstrings. now execute your braid. when the braids are finished, tie the ends together. it makes a smoother finish if you tie each pair of straps together instead tying the strap units together. then when you wrap it, it is flatter and more smooth. now tie the extra strip around the handle in the center. flattening it, wrap until it is as smooth as possible. when finished, tie the strip and tuck it back under the wrap. and you my friend now have a nice shoulder bag. :)

i decorated mine with some buttons :)