Have you ever heard of t-shirt yarn?
If you’re on Pinterest with any regularity, then I’m guessing you have, because it’s everywhere. It’s pretty much the coolest stuff ever.
You take a plain old t-shirt, make a few folds and a few cuts, stretch it out, and suddenly you have 30+ yards of yarn that you can use for all sorts of stuff — like jewelry, rugs, flowers, and lots more! I’m going to be sharing a tutorial for some super cute coasters this week over at Mom it Forward, and I have a bunch of other projects planned, so stay tuned!
So even though there are a bajillion t-shirt yarn tutorials out there, I’m going to share my own today so that you can refer back to it as needed.
All you need:
Old t-shirts — you want to use plain t-shirts with no side seams and no graphics below the arm holes {i.e., if there’s just a small graphic on the top front of the shirt, it’s fine, because you’re going to cut that part off anyway}. Dig through your closet or head to the thrift shop!
Sharp scissors or a rotary cutter and a cutting mat
Lay your t-shirt out on your cutting mat or other flat surface. Try to get it as flat as possible. Cut straight across under the arms, and cut off the bottom hem.
You will be left with a tube of knit material.
Turn your t-shirt tube so that the folds are at the top and bottom and the sides are open. Fold the tube almost in half, but leave an inch or two at the top.
Cut the tube into strips about an inch wide, being careful to not cut through the fold at the top.
Rearrange your tube and flatten out the top fold so it is laying flat on your cutting surface. {Does it make me creepy that I always think that this part looks kinda like a rib cage?}
Now comes a part that’s a little tricky to explain, so take a look at the photo. Your goal is to make one long piece of fabric, so you want to cut diagonally from one strip to the other. So cut off that first strip at a slant, then cut diagonally through each of the strips. When you’re done, you’ll have one crazy long strip of fabric.
Don’t be alarmed if you have some wonky, zig-zaggy pieces. Once you stretch out the yarn in the next step, you’ll never even be able to tell.
Just start at one end and pull the t-shirt piece to stretch it. As you do that, it magically curls up onto itself and becomes yarn! How cool is that?
Stretch out your entire piece of fabric, roll it into a ball, and you’re done! This gray t-shirt was a men’s XL, and I ended up with over 30 yards of t-shirt yarn. For reals. I couldn’t believe how much one t-shirt provided!
I will warn you, this becomes a mighty addicting process. Tell your husbands/boyfriends/roommates/kids to guard their shirts with their lives, because you will begin to somewhat obsessively check out what they’re wearing to see if you can yarn it up.
I think my favorite is the roll that I got from a tie-dyed t-shirt. So much fun.
You tell me: What will you make with your t-shirt yarn??
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I always wondered how to do this! Thanks for the easy tutorial!
I know, I couldn’t believe how easy it was either!! I was so amazed at how much I got from just one shirt!
waaaaay cooooool! 🙂
Thank you for the great tutorial. These are by far the clearest directions for making t-shirt yarn that I have seen yet. Definitely pinning and sharing.
Love it! Simple Maggie has how to make a blanket using it! Watch out Husband, your shirts are mine! As soon as I find some half decent scissors.
This is BRILLIANT!!! I was looking on pinterest for how to make t-shirt yarn so I can make a crochet cat bed!
Love using this for crafts! Have one featured on our blog today @ Twitchetts.blogspot.com Using this T-Shirt Yarn. Used a link to your page for the step-by-step, best instruction I could find!!
Thanks! This is so good!
What do you do with the top part of tshirts and hem?
Hi Karen! I usually throw out the hem, but I save the other pieces to use as scraps. You can find all sorts of really cute and easy t-shirt flower tutorials on Pinterest!
What happens if you use a shirt with side seams?
Hi Donna! Unfortunately, it won’t work with a t-shirt with side seams, because you won’t be able to get a nice, long piece.
I make latch hook rugs with t-shirt pieces! You need about 5″ long strips so you can use old shirts with side seams for those!
Awesome things here. I’m very satisfied to peer your article.
Thanks a lot and I am having a look ahead to touch you.
Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
Why won’t my strips curl? They just remain flat
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing, usually my discarded t-shirts go to my husband’s art studio (www.wilderann.com) recycled for rags though being a knitter when the mood strikes I like your suggestion with t-shirt yarn. Will surely give this a try. What have you knitted with this yarn? Also, since I just stumbled upon your sight I look forward to taking a peep. Happy New Year!
Thank you for the great instructions. I never could figure out “cut at a slight angle around the shirt”???
I am going to tie dye some old white t-shirts to make my own color schemes.
This is the best how to for t-shirt yarn! I have made 8 balls of yarn today thanks to your super clear pictures and explanation. I am going to make a cat cozy and a cat bed. Thank you.
Hi! Can you please tell me where to find the blanket instructions? I want to clear all the old tshirts out of our home and redo a room. With these instructions I can get the yarn ready. Then I can make a huge rug out of tshirts for the room. I will also sew a few tshirt pillows. A blanket would just be the icing on the cake. Thanks!
Hi Pat! I’m sorry, I’m not sure what blanket you’re talking about, but if you go on Pinterest or do a Google search, I bet you can find some instructions. Thanks!!