T-Shirt Yarn

Inspired by my friend Brandy who is making a throw rug from retired sweats and armed with a bag of old clothes from my daughter’s closet, I decided to try my hand at making t-shirt yarn from old t-shirts. I’d then turn the yarn into much needed throw rugs or a colorful hobo bag or two.

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at first. How much usable material can I actually get from a t-shirt? Surprise, surprise, each shirt netted quite a nice size ball of yarn.

I haven’t started crocheting with it yet. Someone brought home 290 pounds of tomatoes over the weekend. My days have been a bit full with putting up a bajillion jars of crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. But I’m pretty eager to play with the soft material and create some colorful projects.

The yarn was surprisingly easy to make. The whole process would be a good way to keep your hands busy while watching a movie, which means it doesn’t take a whole lot of thought.

While searching for directions, I found two different ways to make t-shirt yarn. The first way takes a little more time, but the resulting yarn is smooth and evenly sized. The second way is a lot faster but the yarn may be narrow in some places and wider in others since the shortcut creates curves that don’t always fold over neatly. For my rag rug project, the imperfect yarn will be perfect. However, if I go for a hobo bag or even a blanket, I’ll want the yarn to be more consistent. You’ll have to decide what works for you.

Both methods begin and end with the same steps.

Spiral Method

Things You Need:

T-shirt

Sharp scissors

Measuring Tap

Lay t-shirt on a flat surface, smoothing out the wrinkles as much as possible.

Cut across the t-shirt underneath any graphics on the shirt. The sample shirt in the picture has a small logo, so I could cut across at the underarms the same way I would if the shirt had no pictures. Although it may seem like a waste to cut away the graphics, that artwork actually prevents the yarn from forming properly later, so don’t try to save it.

Send the top piece to the rag bag for later use in dusting or oil changes.

Trim away the bottom hem of the remaining piece.

Open up the piece and pick a point on either edge to begin. Cut at a gradual angle until you reach your desired width. My 1” wide strip made t-shirt yarn that is about ¼” thick. I wouldn’t go any narrower than about ½" or wider than about 2”. Anything smaller or larger will most likely not form the yarn properly.

When you reached your desired strip width, simply cut around and around the circle, spiraling to the other end and maintaining the same width until you have one very long strip with 2 tapered ends.

Now comes the amazing part. Hold one end between the thumb and index finger on your left hand. Pick a point about a foot away from the end and hold that point between you thumb and index finger on your right hand, making sure the material isn’t twisted. Now stretch. Is that not the coolest thing?! Because of the nature of knit, the material simply folds in on itself and you have t-shirt yarn!

Continue stretching the material until the entire length is formed into the yarn. Then roll it up into a ball for easier handling.

Strip Method

Things You Need:

T-shirt

Sharp scissors

Measuring Tape

Lay t-shirt on a flat surface, smoothing out the wrinkles as much as possible (See above for pictures).

Cut across the t-shirt underneath any graphics on the shirt. The sample shirt in the picture has a small logo, so I could cut across at the underarms the same way I would if the shirt had no pictures. Although it may seem like a waste to cut away the graphics, that artwork actually prevents the yarn from forming properly later, so don’t try to save it.

Send the top piece to the rag bag for later use in dusting or oil changes.

Trim away the bottom hem of the remaining piece.

Lay the piece on a flat surface with the folded edges at the top and bottom and the open edges on the sides.

Using a measuring tape, snip the bottom edge at the desired strip width. I chose 1” width for my strip and snipped along the edge at every inch.

Cut from the snipped marks at the bottom straight up the material to within about an 1” from the top. Do not cut all of the way through!

Open up the material, laying the top section open on a flat surface. Notice where the outside edge is in the picture and where the first cut ends. We need to get a strip started here.

Taper a cut from the outside edge to the first cut end on the opposite side. It sounds complicated, but if you open your material like I have pictured here, you’ll see what I mean.

From here until the end of the material, simply open the material as pictured and cut straight across. You’re not really cutting straight across. You’re actually cutting on a diagonal, turning your straight cuts into one long spiral. Like I said, it sounds complicated on paper, but once you try it, you’ll see how it works.

When you’ve made all of your cuts, you’ll have a long strip with tapered ends all ready for stretching. Just stretch it like we did in the previous instructions. Easy peasy.

The Strip Method seems a lot more complicated that the Spiral Method, but if you try each one, you’ll realize that the Spiral Method really takes a long time compared to the shortcut of the Strip Method. However, the Spiral Method produces a much smoother strip. The Strip Method can have some funky angles that don’t always roll under properly during stretching.

Thanks for stopping by! I’ve been having a lot of fun repurposing these old t-shirts into yarn. I guess when I turn that yarn into something else I can call it upcycling?? By the way, have you seen t-shirt yarn in the stores or for sale online? It's ridiculously expensive! Let's clean out our closets and turn our worn out t-shirts into something new and leave the expensive stuff at the store!

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

PS. Sorry about the sudden change in color in the sample shirts in the photo. I took two pictures of the blue shirt and then proceeded to hack it up into my yarn strip and never even thought to take another picture! I told you it was mindless.

Shared on:

An Original Belle's Make it Yourself Monday 
Far Above Rubies' Domestically Divine
Family Time Tuesday
Growing Home's Teach Me Tuesday
Time Warp Wife's Titus 2sday
Frugally Sustainable's Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways 
We are THAT Family's Works for me Wednesday 
Women Living Well Wednesday Link Up Party 
GNOWFGLINS Simple Lives Thursday
Raising Homemaker's Wednesday Link Up
Homestead Revival's Barn Hop 

Our Simple Country Life's Heart 4 Home
Mother Hen's Frugal Life Frugal Friday 
Natural Mother's Network Seasonal Celebration