Make a Zip Pouch for Dad.  This simple zip pouch is made from a men’s shirt and tie.

• Men’s shirt
• Men’s tie
• 7″ zipper

My husband was getting rid of some work shirts and ties that had seen better days.  I decided to recycle them instead.

Take a man’s shirt and cut the side seams up to the sleeves.  Button the shirt up the front.   Cut a 6″ section of the shirt.  (I used the last button hole but not the last button because there was a tag and extra buttons in the way, so it is mismatched above. )  Measure the button to align at the 2″ mark.

With the button at the center, cut the piece to be 8 1/4″ wide.

Using the back of the shirt, cut 3 more pieces 6 X 8 1/4″.

Take an old tie and begin unstitching it with a seam ripper.  Remove the tag and unstitch the basting holding it together.  Then remove the bottom lining.

Press all the bottom edges open.  Cut 2 pieces that are 3 X 8 1/4″.   (Because ties are cut on the bias, I cut my pieces diagonally across the tie to be on the straight of grain.)

Stitch the tie pieces onto the bottom of the shirt front piece and one of the back pieces.

Option 1:  Fold over 1/2″ of tie piece, align to bottom of shirt piece and topstitch down.

Option 2:  Align tie piece over shirt piece.  Flip up tie piece so that right sides are together.  Measure so that the tie piece edge is 2″ away from the edge of the shirt piece.  Stitch a 4/8″ seam.  Press tie piece down.  (This is the option I used.)

To assemble the zipper and pouch see the tutorial: Learn to Sew Pouches

This is perfect for desk drawer necessities.

See more ideas on how to repurpose a shirt on my Pinterest Board:  Men’s Shirt Restyling