Disney Bags: t-shirt and fused plastic bags

My family and I are going to Disney World next week. I wanted to make a special purse to use while there. I have this Minnie Mouse t-shirt that just doesn't fit me right. I decided to use that to make the purse out of.

Materials: 1 t-shirt, scissors, ruler, marker, zipper, ribbon, fabric for lining, needle or sewing machine, and thread. I also used a Girl Scout badge.

Directions: Cut the sleeves off of the shirt. Cut them so that the attached sewn edge is still attached to the sleeves (where the sleeves were connected to the rest of the shirt).

You can sew something decorative on the sleeve. Here I have sewn the shirt label on. I sewed a Girl Scout badge on the other sleeve.

Turn the shirt inside out. Pin the shirt on the side edges so that everything is lined up just right. It will also help make sure nothing shifts while cutting and sewing.

Draw a line with the marker and ruler down each side of the t-shirt. Be sure to leave at least a fourth of an inch seam allowance. This line is so that you know where to stitch, and you will get a nice straight line . Its also so that the rounded sleeve holes are removed.

Now sew along that line. Then cut off any t-shirt material that is over a half of an inch from the sewn line.

Draw a line with the ruler along the top and bottom of the shirt (above the bottom hem and below the collar). Sew along the bottom line. Cut along the top line.

Turn the t-shirt right side out. Place and pin the sleeves where you want the outside pockets to be. On the back pocket of my bag, I attached velcro. I sewed one side of the velcro to the pocket before attaching it to the bag , and sewed the other piece of velcro while sewing the pocket on the bag. The sleeves were turned upside down to form the pockets. Carefully sew them in place. Remember to sew them only through one layer of the bag. It takes some maneuvering, but it can be done on the sewing machine.

Lay your bag over a folded piece of fabric (with the right sides of the fabric together). I chose a patriotic fabric to match the shirt. Trace a line around your t-shirt onto the fabric. Now sew a quarter to a half inch inside of that line on the two sides of the bag. The folded part is the bottom of your lining. Cut where your draw line was. Leave your sewn lining right sides together. Place it inside of your bag. Cut your ribbon to the size you want for your handle. Pin it in place on the sides of your bag, between the lining and the t-shirt. Fold the top edges of the t-shirt and lining towards each other so that you no longer see the raw edges. Pin the two layers together. Pin a zipper in place. It is easier to do this when the zipper is open. Tuck the end of the zipper inside of the bag (in the lining), but make sure not to tuck in the pull tab for the zipper. With the zipper open, sew the lining, the t-shirt, the ribbon handle, and the zipper in place. I like to use a zig zag stitch. This part is tricky. I actually left some of the lining showing above the t-shirt on the outside. I had sewed them together with the handle before sewing the zipper to the top edge of the lining.

Also here are the finished tote bags that I made out of fused plastic bags. To see how to steps on how to fuse plastic bags, please look at the older post from this month. The one that says "Disney Store" on it is 3 layers of bags. The Disney store bags are pretty thick to begin with. The Mickey Mouse one is 4 or 5 layers of bags. This includes a thin pink garbage bag for the inside on the tote bag.