How to Make a Rag Bag

A rag bag is a purse, tote or bag made up of old t-shirts cut into thin strips. I made this purse out of an old maternity shirt that I no longer needed. Instead of throwing clothes out, why not recycle them into something useful. I got the idea of making this purse from a website a came across earlier this week called www.myrecycledbags.com the link will be provided below.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 or 2 shirts, depending on the size
• crochet hook size h or bigger if needed
• three 24 inch strips of ribbon, any color
• scissors
• button
• needle and thread

1. Cut off the sleeves and the neck line, if the shirt has a collar or buttons, cut those off too. Now cut the shirt across into 1/2 inch strips until all the shirt has been cut. Do not worry if the strips are crooked, it doesn't matter.

2. Tie all the strips together to make a long thread. An easy way to do this without using knots is to cut a slit on each end of the strips that are going to be connected and then put the end of one of the strips from behind the strips and give it a tug. That's it, repeat until all the strips are tied.

3. Now that all the strips have been tied up, the crocheting can begin. Round 1: chain 26.
   Round 2: Double crochet in the third chain from hook and all the chains until the end. (This will make 24 chains.) Chain 2 and turn. Continue in this manner until 16 rows have been made, cast off and weave in ends.

4. Fold the rectangle in half. Take the ribbon and insert it into the bottom corner of the purse and like you would prepare a sneaker, criss cross the ribbon so it looks like x's have been made. Tie the ribbon at the top to make a bow. Repeat to the other side. The third ribbon will be tied to one of the sides of the purse just above the bow tie and again to the other side to make the strap.

5. Choose a big button and with the needle and thread sew it to the inside of the purse. To close the purse insert the button in between the stitches of the front of the purse.

Tips & Warnings

• If a button is not to your liking, Velcro can be used instead.
• When making the rag bag, be creative, add bright colors, ribbons, buttons or whatever comes to mind, remember that any colors can be used as long as it makes your project special.