If you haven’t heard of t-shirt yarn before, it’s exactly what it sounds like—yarn made from recycled t-shirts. It’s sustainable and eco-friendly and it’s a fantastic way to repurpose shirts sitting in the back of your closet. You can use it just like normal yarn to make whatever knitting projects your heart desires. Here’s how to turn your old shirts into t-shirt yarn.
Materials:
- Plaint cotton t-shirt
- Rotary cutting mat
- Rotary cutter
- Ruler
- Fabric scissors
Directions:
Step 1: Wash and Prep Shirt
Before you get to making your yarn, wash and dry your shirts. Then place the t-shirt on a large rotary cutting may and use scissors or a rotary cutter to cut across the shirt from under the sleeves. Then cut off the bottom hemmed edge. You should have a large rectangle. Put the t-shirt flat with the open ends on either side and the closed, folded edges at the top and bottom. Fold the shirt in half and bring the closed edges together, leaving about an inch from the top edge.
Step 2: Cut Strips
Starting at the bottom edge, use scissors to cut 1-inch wide strips across the rectangle without cutting through the top edge. Stop cutting when you’re about an inch from the top folded edge. You should be left with a line of lopped fringe in one piece.
Step 3: Make Diagonal Cuts
Unfold the shirt to turn it into one continuous strip of yarn. Put the uncut strip of the shirt in the center of your mat or over your arm and cut diagonally to connect each loop. Start from the bottom edge in the center of the fabric and cut diagonally across to the first slit. Continue cutting across the row of slits until you have one large continuous strip of t-shirt.
Step 4: Roll the Yarn
After the t-shirt is cut, you’ll have one long strip of fabric that’s about 1-inch wide. Pull and stretch the fabric to turn it into yarn. It should stretch out to be about double the original length. Then wrap it to create a ball of yarn.
