Pot Holder Purse - More Recycled T-Shirts

You might have noticed, when I posted about the braided t-shirt basket, that we only used part of the t-shirts to make the braid, and then only used part of the braid to make the basket. This week, we turned the leftovers into a pot holder purse.

First, we cut what remained of our t-shirts into strips, about 9 inches long, and about 1/2 inch wide.

We doubled them over, and sewed them into loops. And, to our delight, we discovered that the medium sized boys t-shirt sleeves, could be cut into loops, with no sewing required.

When we had 72 strips sewed into loops, we wove them together on the girls' potholder loom, being careful to place all of our stitched ends on the same sides of the loom. I'm sure there are directions out there for making potholder looms from scratch. But, they only cost a couple of dollars at the big box stores (they might be little more at a craft store, or online, but still they're a minimal expense). And, most kids, really enjoy making potholders on them, so they're a good purchase anyway.

Our 72 loops allowed us to make two woven squares. At this point they looked a little sloppy, because of the stitched ends of our loops.

Matching up the sloppy sides of the squares, we sewed the them together with yarn, on three sides, leaving the fourth, smooth side, open.

Then, we sewed on what was left of our braid, from the basket project, along the side seems, for a purse strap.

All that was left, was to turn the it right side out, and we were ready to head to town - looking so much more fashionable carrying a new purse, than wearing the ratty old t-shirts, that it was made from.

It's great to be a homeschooler.