An old Shirt Turns into a Drawstring Knapsack

My daughter saw this idea in a Family Fun magazine (Sept 2010) and decided to make this drawstring knapsack out of an old shirt that no longer fit.  She was able to do most of it all on her own (she's 10).

1. Make sure the hem of your shirt will accommodate a large safety pin or plastic needle and the rope you intend to use. When cutting a small slit in the hem to test this, cut it in between the side seams.  The ends of the rope will need to come out in the middle, so the side seam of the shirt fall to each side, when completed. Don't feed the rope through yet, just make sure the hem is large enough.

2. Turn the shirt inside-out, and sew a line (to close it) from right under the arm seam to the other side.  This is going to be the bottom.

3. Once you've sewn across the shirt, cut above the stitching to remove the sleeves and neck.

4. We used a kids jump rope, but any type of rope, clothesline cord, etc. would work. Attach rope to your needle or safety pin.  I used a large safety pin through the middle of the rope end, then taped it to the pin, to keep it from fraying while working it through the hem.

Insert the pin into the slit that was cut on the hem of the shirt, and work it through the entire hem to come out on the other side, gently pulling the fabric around the rope.

5. Turn the shirt back the right way. Next, you'll need 7/16" eyelets (or grommet) kit.  Be sure to pick up both the eyelets and the tool (setter and anvil).  Both were about $4 each at Wal-mart in the fabric section. In the bottom corners, you'll cut a small hole the same size of the inside of the eyelet.  Be sure to cut a tiny hole to begin with - you can always make it larger.  Then follow the instructions of the eyelet kit to attach the eyelet to each hole. It took a good bit of hammering for this to set.

6. Once the eyelets are in place, take the ends of the rope and tie knots to each eyelet.  I also used some hot glue in the middle of the knot to help secure it.

7. Ready to use!