Old T-Shirt Wreath
Don’t you just love the idea of using your old shirts to make pretty decor? Take color-coordinated shirts and transform them into a wreath. Use a grapevine wreath or wreath form, and old clothes, and you’ll only spend a buck! Get the tutorial details at Scoutie Girl.
Make an Asymmetrical T-shirt Skirt
My friend Lee from Leethal is an amazing crafter with tons of great ideas, and she does a lot of great work with recycled materials. Check out her tutorial for an asymmetrical t-shirt skirt here.
You’ve seen the standard all-squares t-shirt quilts (which are awesome, don’t get me wrong), but this strip-quilted t-shirt quilt is a genuine masterpiece. If you’re not into the other kind, this one is an amazing choice. Calls for about 20 t-shirts and tutorial is by Erika Kern at CraftStylish. Part One Here and Part Two Here.
Use your favorite old t-shirt to make these cute throw pillows, and stashbust some fabric while you’re at it. Tutorial at Maiden Jane (via TT).
My friend Rachel made this cool scarf from her collection of t-shirts. Get the details at Craft.
No sewing required in this cute tutorial from Living Locurto.
Cute way to alter an old t-shirt into a new shrug! By Something Shiny
Very cute ruffly scarf tutorial by Disney at Ruffles & Stuff
Make T-shirt Yarn (also known as Tarn)
find out how at the Polka Dot Pineapple Blog (another tutorial at My Recycled Bags)
Projects to make with your t-shirt yarn:
More Resources:
Find a bunch more tutorials at the T-Shirt Surgery Livejournal Community
Check out this super-awesome stop-motion t-shirt animation at Dude Craft (you have to see it!)
A huge roundup of t-shirt surgery projects at Craft Jr.
11 Comments
RecycleCindy
What a fantastic post about recycled t-shirt projects. Thank you for posting all these wonderful upcycled projects and I appreciate that you included a few of my free crochet patterns too. We all need to support green crafting and help others learn the joy of recycling crafting. It’s basically free and oh so eco-friendly.
Jane
Wow, there are some amazing ideas here! I love the t-shirt scarf. I make t-shirt quilts (and thanks for showing my pillow!) but I am completely inspired. Thanks!
Elizabeth
Great post! I really like the idea of using tee material as a base on wreaths.
Amy @ Living Locurto
Thanks for including my new sew t-shirt here! What a bunch of great ideas. That wreath is too cute! Great craft to do with kids. I love finding new things to do with old shirts because I just can’t throw them away. ha!
Sophia
Thanks for the links! Too bad I didn’t get the link to that half-circle bath mat before I made my own. It would have cut my time in half since I wouldn’t have had to figure out the pattern as I went … :)
Jennifer
I’d really like to make that ruffly scarf…but I can’t get the link to open. Am I doing something wrong?
heather
@Jennifer I fixed the link – thanks for catching that!
Alicia
What a coincidence! My friend Erin just made a floor mat out of old t-shirts. She did a post about it on her site Yay! DIY. Here’s the link: http://yaydiy.com/2010/02/college-t-shirts-who-knew-they-would-come-in-handy/
P.S. I LOVE the scarf idea- gonna have to try that.
Abigail
A coincidence indeed – are we all making t-shirt rugs right now? I’m in the middle of braiding t-shirt strips together to make giant yarn for an outsized crochet doily rug. Won’t be on my blog til next week though (provided I finish it by next week!)
Katherine @ Dexter & Dinah
I’m always looking for new ways to use up all of my t-shirts – these are all great ideas! I particularly love the dish rags. Thanks!
CrochetN'Crafts
These are very neat ideas! I especially love the ruffled scarf and the wreath.