T'd Off!

Are you teed off because some of your favorite t-shirts have shrunk or become stained under the arms? Would you like some ideas on what you can make out of them so you can still enjoy them? Then this post is for you!

One very timely t-shirt craft is the reusable bag. Simply cut the neck and sleeves out to make handles, turn the t-shirt inside out, and sew the bottom closed. Then turn right side out again. If you want to get fancy, these can be embellished with buttons, ribbons, beads, etc. There is no need to hem the handles. T-shirt material doesn't ravel. Tote your books or groceries in style!

Scarves are another fun thing you can make out of t-shirts. There are many, many types of scarves you can make. I'll just talk about three of them here. The first is made by sewing wide strips of t-shirts together, and cutting fringe. There are easy instructions here:

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/tshirt_scarf

The second type is made by cutting loops from the body of the t-shirt, wrapping them around your hand a few times, and tying them together with narrow t-shirt strips. Learn how here:

http://forum.threadbanger.com/showthread.php?p=264122

Another is made by laying 4" squares of t-shirt material end to end diagonally and sewing them all together to make a thick, ruffly scarf. There are excellent instructions at a very fascinating blog called Ruffles And Stuff here:

http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2009/08/super-easy-t-shirt-scarf.html

Is your bed or couch looking a little bare? Why not whip up a few pillows featuring your favorite t-shirt slogans? One type of pillow is made by cutting two squares or rectangles out of your shirt, pinning with the right sides together, stitch three sides, then turn right side out, stuff, and stitch the remaining side by hand. Another type is an easy no-sew pillow which is made by cutting fringe on a large square of material, knotting the fringe together on three sides, stuffing, then knotting the remaining side. This type works very well with larger t-shirts. There is a step-by-step video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1EZPhRpCMA

These are just a few ideas to get you started on reusing your old favorites and some not-so-favorite and possibly downright ugly free t-shirts you may have accumulated! There are so many great ideas out there for recycling old t-shirts that I will probably do a second post with more ideas in the future. I'd love to hear about how you have reused old t-shirts too!