Eco-friendly Mishloach Manot Bags for Purim

Make Your Mishloach Manot Out of Colorful Recycled T-shirts!
How to cut a Mishloach Manot gift bag for the Jewish holiday of Purim

Recycle your old t-shirts to create these wonderful, ecologically-friendly mishloach manot mishloach manotמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת"Sending of portions" (Hebrew). Baskets of sweets and other foods exchanged among friends on Purim. bags to send goodies on Purim. Instructions for this project are courtesy of recycled textiles designer Crispina ffrench. 

  1. Fold tee shirt in half vertically, so that sleeves are lined up one on top of the other.
  2. Using a plate or by eye, lightly trace a quarter circle around the neckline, starting from the center fold and ending at the shoulder.  This will be the bag's top opening.
  3. Using sharp fabric scissors, cut through all fabric layers (should be 4 -- the front and back of the tee shirts, doubled over).
  4. Leaving the shirt still folded, lightly draw a line from the shoulder seams (starting approximately 2-3 inches from the opening --these will become the handles of the bag), to underneath the sleeve.  Cut along this line, again through all four layers of fabric.
  5. Now open the folded tee shirt -- and match up the side seams so they are in the center of the shirt and the handles match up.

To finish the bag as a drawstring: 

  1. Taking one of the discarded sleeves, cut a 1" strip from around the middle of the sleeve (not including any seaming) and pull taut, turning it into a long string. 
  2. Approximately every two inches along the bottom seam of the tee shirt, cut a triangle wider at its base than it is tall -- don't go too far above the seam line.
  3. Using a bobby pin or straightened paperclip as make-shift darning needle, thread the string through the casement formed by the bottom seam and tie off with a bow.  The triangular cuts make it easier to thread through the casement, and debulk the fabric so the bottom can be tied closed.

To finish the bag with tassled fringe:

  1. From the bottom of the shirt, cut 2-3 inch fringes, roughly 1-2 inches wide. 
  2. Starting in the middle, or from one end, tie the fringes together back to front in double knots, finishing each knot with a gentle tug to stretch the fringe slightly.

 

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