Eco Chic Rag Bag: Step by Step!

                        Eco Chic Rag Bag : Step by Step!

Started with some well-loved shirts and shorts! And, some inflatable packing (Thanks Mom!)

The t-shirt, you start with cutting off the top section under the arms............

And then cut of the hem on the bottom, (which later became a beautiful grey rose!)

I like to cut the shirt into 1/2 inch wide strips.

This time I didn't stop at an inch or so before the fold, I just cut all the way through so I could work with loops of fabric.

There's all the loops.........

Oh! A pair of shorts? What can we do with those?

Cut off the "legs".........

And cut them up into 1/2 in. strips also, and left them in loops too. Although I ended up detaching the loops and using them as strips for part of the project.

And here is our lovely inflatable packing.:) I love how it has blue in it too! First I cut off one edge, to let the air out so it will lay flat.

Then you can easily fold it up to cut into strips, about the same width as the fabric ones.

Here you have all your lovely fabric and plastic loops and strips. Ready to make something cool!!

The method I used to attach the loops I tried to capture with these pictures, hopefully this is helpful.

 As you crochet,when you come to the end of the strip of fabric, add the new one, inserting it into the previous one like this........

Then take the end of the new strip, insert it into the other end...

And pull together..........

                                   Like this!

So, here is the bag, at it's early stages.

Coming along a little more, (and there's my cup of tea!)

I thought I would also show how I made one of the roses for the bag, ( I was going to show how I made both of them, but, I got so excited to finish it, that I forgot to take pictures!) But, here is a piece of the top hem of the back pocket from the shorts, that is going to become a rose!

Fold over one edge, like so........

Then you can stitch it down, and use the needle and thread to also make a big running stitch along the fabric.

And just kind of roll and gather the fabric, and reposition it however you think it looks good, or resembles a flower!

  And here is the finished embellishment!

                And the finished Rag Bag!

                                                   Pretty roses! :) And those cute buttons!

  Here's the back view too.........

This is a really nice sized bag, my biggest one I've made so far.


Hope you enjoyed my little tutorial! I had fun making it, and making the bag itself. Maybe this will give you some ideas on how to use some well-loved clothes you might have around!

Here's a link to the Etsy Shop, where you can also see my other items.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/UpcycleCrochet