Reusable Produce Bags Made From T-shirts & Onesies

All Things G&D
by All Things G&D
I’m on a mission to go through every corner, closet, nook, cranny, and drawer of our house to clear the clutter and repurpose, recycle or get rid of of things we no longer need. T-shirts are my latest target (how do we have so many?!) and after repurposing my husband's old tees by turning them into reusable disinfectant wipes, I wanted to do something equally productive for the planet with mine and my daughter's.
No more plastic produce bags for us! You're welcome, Earth.
T-shirts and onesie pulled out of dark closet corners and about to get new life as DIY reusable produce bags!
So simple: 1. Cut the top off your shirt. 2. Turn it inside out and sew what is now the bottom of your bag closed. 3. Use a rotary cutter (or scissors) to cut staggered slits through the fabric and a little handle at the top...
...and get your shop on! I like this large-sized produce bag for larger, lightweight produce like lettuce and kale.
A size 4T t-shirt (that’s already pretty proud to be green) upcycled into a fantastic, sturdy little produce bag. I wanted this tee’s fitting green message to appear upright, so I sewed the bottom of the shirt closed and made the neck hole the top of the bag. I also cut off the sides of the shirt to remove the sleeves, and sewed new seams along the sides, leaving me with a small, rectangle bag. I decided to keep this one free of slits throughout to make it extra sturdy, but did use my rotary blade to cut little handles at the top just below the neckline.
Proud to be green!
This little cutie is my favorite: my daughter's 6 month onesie turned produce bag! Similar to the 4T bag, I made this one using the neck hole as the bag’s top. Then I cut and stitched along the sides and bottom to make a rectangle-shaped bag. Lastly, I used my rotary cutter to add a few rows of staggered slits to the bottom.
I made this gray bag from one of my old t-shirts using the instructions at the top of this post, except I decided to skip cutting slits through it, so this one is more like a t-shirt tote. I love it for holding vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots that would always poke through and shred those plastic produce bags.
I love that I found a way to repurpose some of our old shirts, and I REALLY love that I’ll no longer be filling landfills with disposable plastic produce bags! Bonus? These reusable produce bags also qualify for “bring your own bag” credits at the grocery store – They help save the planet, and save you money on your grocery bill!
All Things G&D
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Cheryl Cheryl on May 20, 2017

    I was thinking that I love the carbon footprint for a logo on a t shirt for Father's Day. I work in a preschool nursery and I'm always looking for ideas lol.

  • Meem Kaplan Meem Kaplan on Sep 27, 2019

    I've made a few canvas grocery bags but this is an amazing idea! I LOVE IT!

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