Another Tote

Yes, I have a tote obsession right now.  This one I made from a man's L T-shirt.  The local thrift store has T-shirts for $.99 and they were 25% off.  The lining fabric was from my stash.  Total cost out of pocket right now for this tote - $.75 plus tax.  Yay!  And this is only because my dear husband was not willing to part with any of his Ohio State T-shirts for my project this time.

Cut a piece from the front & back of the shirt to the desired tote size.  I cut 15" x 15" pieces to make a 13" x 13" x 3" finished tote.  Let me say, however, that I really dislike working with the stretchiness of knit.  I am going to have to get used to it and practice I guess.

I ironed medium-weight fusible interfacing to the front and back T-shirt tote pieces.  It was a bit tricky and you can see I wrinkled the front a smidge in the middle of the logo.  Grrr.  Then I cut matching lining pieces from the other fabric - same dimensions.  I ironed fusible fleece to those for padding, but I think next time I'll just use interfacing also - maybe some heavyweight so it's a bit stiffer.

I cut the pocket piece from a sleeve and the tote handles are the side seam areas that were left after cutting out the large pieces from the shirt.  They're a bit short - I'm going to have to work on that next time. I didn't pad the handles for this one, I just used some interfacing inside them to help stiffen up the knit.

Overall, I'm fairly happy.  I'm thinking that I need to cut up an old UT (that's University of Toledo, not University of Tennessee) shirt from college and make one for my alma matter.

If I get around to it this week (things are a bit crazy - my youngest has a surgery consult this morning during my oldest's ballet class, for example - I'm not looking forward to surgery on a barely 2 year old, even if it is for something routine like a hernia behind her belly button).

Well, I'm off to today's races.  Hope you've been inspired to try making your own upcycled tote from these posts!