A repurposed t shirt and pair of scissors.

Shop Waste-Free with Reusable T-Shirt Bags

Did you know you can repurpose old t-shirts into sustainable items? Grab your scissors and an old t-shirt, there are only a few steps to a new reusable bag!

Supplies Needed: 

  • Clean t-shirt
  • Scissors

Steps: 

An old t-shirt in the process of becoming a reusable bag.
There are only a few steps between an old t-shirt and a reusable bag! Top-Right, Step 1: Lay out your shirt. Middle-Right, Step 2: Cut out the sleeves and collar. Bottom-Right, Step 3: Cut and tie fringe along bottom. Left, Step 4: Fill up your bag! (Photo: NOAA).
  1. Lay your t-shirt out flat. 
  2. Cut off the sleeves and collar of the shirt, then turn it inside out.

If you’re comfortable with sewing, you can sew the bottom edges of your bag together here and skip to step 8! If not, keep reading for instructions on how to make a no-sew bag. 

  1. Cut a row of fringe along the bottom of the shirt, about the length and width of your finger. 
  2. Tie the fringe in a criss-cross pattern: Tie the top-left piece of fringe to the bottom-right piece of fringe. 
  3. Then tie the bottom-left fringe to the top-right fringe in the same criss-cross pattern. (A quick note: Be sure to tie these tightly! I did not, and was left with a few holes in the bottom of my bag.)  
  4. Continue tying these criss-crosses all along the bottom of your bag. 
  5. Tie another row of criss-crosses, this time connecting new sets of knots. This should help close any gaps in the bottom of your bag! 
  6. Turn your bag right-side out and fill it up!
A close-up of the knot-tying steps.
These knots will secure the bottom of your bag! Bottom, from left, Step 1: Cut fringe about the length/width of a finger. Step 2: Tie the top-left fringe to the bottom-right fringe. Step 3: Tie the bottom-left fringe to the top-right fringe. Step 4: Tie all across the bottom of your bag. Top, Step 5: Tie fringe ends again, creating another set of criss-cross knots to close any gaps (Photo: NOAA).
 

For citation purposes, unless otherwise noted, this article was authored by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Last updated Fri, 07/26/2024 - 09:30 am EDT