How to Make a Reusable Trick or Treat Bag

I love a good (and EASY) T-shirt upcycle and this one is exactly that!  If you've got ten minutes and a quarter, you too can make a fabulous trick or treat bag that is kinder and gentler on the earth.  Not to mention a major upgrade from the pillowcase that I used to use as a kid!

Whilst shopping at my local Goodwill Clearance Center, I started to run across super cute Halloween kids shirts....all throughout the year.  And I ended up with a stack of 'em.  For this project, I used just one from my stack along with a pair of scissors and a sewing machine.  If you have a little one just learning to sew, this is an excellent project!

If you'd like to see a brief video demonstration, you can check that out here...it's less than two minutes! Or you can follow these simple steps:

1.  Cut both of the sleeves and the collar of the shirt away.
2. Turn your T-shirt inside out and use the bottom hem as a guide to sew a straight line across the bottom opening of the shirt.
3.  Turn your bag right side out and DONE!

It really is that easy.  And what a great way to balance out the waste of all those candy wrappers!

Easy Peasy Tie Cuff Bracelet

I love easy jewelry making projects!  Today I'll show you how to make a cuff bracelet from a thrift store tie and an old button with little more than a glue gun.  Yep, that's right....no jewelry tools are required.  Here are a few that I've made:

You'll need a few supplies that you're likely to have in your crafting arsenal already:

- Glue; both hot glue and E6000®
- Small scrap of felt
- A button, piece of broken jewelry or some other embellishment of your choosing
- A cuff bracelet blank
- Several binder clips (AKA: alligator clips)
- And....a tie, silk or otherwise

Of course there is a video tutorial for this one that you'll want to watch for all the little tips and tricks.  But in a nutshell, here's how I made these bracelets:

1. Cut your tie so the it completely covers the front of your bracelet blank with enough extra to fold over the edges.  It is best if it does not completely cover the back.
2. Use a bit of hot glue along the edges on the back to tack your tie into place.
3. Cut a piece of felt big enough to cover all of the rough edges that you just hot glued into place but small enough that it's not visible from the front of the bracelet.  Use E-6000 to glue it into place.
4.  Use your binder clips to hold the felt in place while it dries.
5.  Glue your embellishment (with E-6000) into place on the front of the bracelet and clip it into place with another binder clip.
6.  Let everything dry for an hour and remove your clips.  And, viola! Your cuff tie bracelet is done!

Don't Throw Those Old Clothes Away

Boy was I in a purging kind of mood last week!  My closet had become so overstuffed with clothes that I was no longer wearing and I couldn't find anything.  Thankfully, when the purge was complete, I ended up with a bunch of clothes to put back in the closet, a pile for the local women's shelter and a pile that I new I just couldn't even donate.  With that pile, I set to work on a bunch of upcycled projects.  Today, I thought I'd share a really simple way to make some low sew bags that can be used for gift giving, storing jewelry, carrying snacks to school and you can even use them instead of those pesky plastic produce bags.  Here's how my favorite turned out:

This bag was made from the sleeve of a pajama top that I've had for several years and was down to it's last couple of buttons (I saved the animal print buttons for later use too).  It's hard to see in this picture but it has a really pretty sheer ruffle around the top of the bag.

Step one:  Clean your closet, your kids closet, your neighbors closet and donate whatever is still wearable.  What's not - gather up and remove any zippers, buttons or embellishments that you might find use for in other projects.  Then start imagining the cuts you can make.  The bottom of pant legs and the ends of sleeves are a great place to start and will require just a couple straight seams. I don't really like to sew so the fewer stitches, the better!

Lop off the end of your garment.  Yeah, I know it's not straight, I fixed that before I started sewing.

Then you're going to fold over the top seam to make a "pouch" for your drawstring.  Add a few pins and sew around the sleeve.

Just be careful not to also sew through any ruffles. You'll want to leave a small opening in the seam for the drawstring.

Now you can select a coordinating ribbon or yarn and thread it through your seam.  I find attaching a safety pin to one end is the easiest way to get the cord through the seam.  Before we finish off this bag, I want to jump to an alternate (and easier) method of making your top seam. 


This is the bottom of a pajama pant leg that already has a nice seam in it. All you need to do is snip a piece of the seam and thread your drawstring through - so much easier!

Okay, let's head back over to our animal print bag and finish off the bottom.

Be sure the right sides of your fabric are facing each other and add a few pins to keep everything straight.

Add a simple straight stitch across the bottom and viola!  Simply turn your finished bag right side out and it's ready to use.  I was able to get two identical bags, one from each sleeve, from this garment.  With a few extra and still simple stitches I was able to get another pouch from the breast panel using the button holes to thread my ribbon through.  I still have plenty of this fabric (and ideas) left. 

Let's go back and finish off that blue jersey bag that I started above:

I know I know....why would you slice it up?!  How functional would THAT be?!  Trust me, I have a rotary cutter and I know how to use it. 

After you've sewn up the bottom edge as you did in the above bag, use a straight edge and rotary cutter to make inch long cuts in your fabric that are about half an inch to three quarters of an inch apart. 

Now you have yourself a nice looking and reusable produce bag!

See I told you I knew what I was doing!  Post below and tell me what you're doing with your old clothes.