DIY T-shirt Produce Bag

I love me an easy DIY that's cheap! This produce bag is one of them, and there's hardly any sewing. When I say hardly, all you need to sew is ONE end seam.

I first saw this idea from this pin. It gives a lot of great ideas for other produce bags as well (sizes and colors). But, I did learn a few things along the way to make things easier.

Ready?

1. Lay out a t-shirt and fold in half. If your tee has writing on it, turn the shirt inside out first, then fold in half, so that the writing is NOT showing. I happened to not do this. Oh well.

2. Cut a round edge from the top of the fold to the outside. Keep in mind, this will be the BOTTOM of your bag.

3. If you'd like to trim it up for the shape you desire, go ahead.

 

Here is the bag now. You can see it starting to take form.

4. Sew a seam along the bottom that you just cut. I did a zig-zag seam since I wanted to try it for the first time, and boy did it come out horrible! I didn't know how, so of course, I just set my machine and went at it without knowing at all what to do. This is the result...

5. Turn your bag right side out now (so that the seam is hidden inside.(...thank goodness!) You can see that my tee's writing is now on the outside of my bag. FAIL.

6. Now it's time to trim up a handle. Fold again in half, and at the top of the bag, opposite side that you sewed your seam, round off the sides to create a handle, or however you'd like to cut the sides.

Here is what it looks like opened up after I made cuts for a handle. Next time, I'll probably cut more straight lines for the handle.

7. Now it's time to cut the slits in the bag. I used my sewing mat, rotary cutter and a ruler. 

For the handle:
-Cut about a 4 inch slit, about 2 inches from the top.
The rest of the bag:
-I cut slits, about 1 1/2 inches long with space in between, about an inch between each row. (next time I think I'll make the slits bigger and less space in between each slit, so it resembles a crocheted bag more).
-You can make cuts across the seam you sewed so there are holes all the way around the bag.
-Stop cutting slits about 3-4 inches from the bottom of your bag, for your produce to be sitting on solid, not cut material.
-I will also use scissors next time, since using the rotary cutter, I couldn't be as precise and I sometimes get a little OCD. :o)

After all the cutting is over, you can stretch the material out to get your bag ready for produce! You can also wash it so the slits open a little better.

 I used my new produce bag at our local farmer's market!

Have fun with this easy DIY!