DIY t-shirt yarn is a great way to upcycle and repurpose old shirts, but there are some things that you should know about it before you plan on large projects using your old shirts!
I made some t-shirt yarn from a few old shirts to see how it worked when I tried to knit with it, and I wanted to pass along these tips.
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How to make t-shirt yarn.
Start with some old t-shirts that aren’t too heavy. You’re going to cut them into strips that are about 3/4″ to 1″ wide, starting at the bottom.
If you want to see charts to cut one continuous strand there are a lot of tutorials for that online. I tried that and I didn’t like the way that the squared-off ends looked when I stretched the yarn, so I prefer doing it in individual strips cut off the bottom of the shirt.
Cut the strips off and work your way all the way up the shirt.
If you want to use the top part of the shirt (above the armpits) you can continue to cut shorter strips off and just use as much of the shirt that you can cut into strips.
If you want to cut off the seams you can do that, or just leave them.
When you’re done cutting the strips, you can attach the pieces together.
Cut a vertical slit in the end of the strips.
Pull one end of strip #2 through the hole in the end of strip #1. Take the opposite end of strip #2 and loop it through the hole in the end that went through strip #1. You’re basically pulling one end of the strip through the other end of the same strip.
Pull strip #2 through itself and pull it tight. That will create a knot that will connect the two pieces.
When you have a strand that’s all connected, you can start pulling the shirt strands (or do this as you attach the strands together.)
Stretch the strands of shirt as you work along them, creating a cord that’s completely stretched out. It should curl and make a cord as you stretch it.
As you work your way along the pieces of the shirt, you’ll pull it as you go and you’ll be making a cord of the fabric as it curls onto itself after stretching.
For another article about making upcycled fingerless gloves, click here.
Storing the yarn.
When you’re done making the stretched-out strand of yarn, wrap it into a ball that you can use as you need it later.
One shirt will make a small ball, so don’t be surprised if it doesn’t make a huge amount!
How much t-shirt yarn you’ll need for projects.
Depending on how big a project you’re planning, you’ll need a lot of yarn.
One shirt will only make a small piece of fabric. I used three balls to make a knitted piece of fabric that’s about 12″x12″, and depending on whether you’re crocheting, knitting, or weaving, you may get more or less finished material to use out of it.
If I was planning on making something like a large 16×16″ tote bag, I would probably need about 7-8 balls of the size that I was using, depending on whether the entire shirt was used to make the ball of yarn.
Remember that smaller shirts will make less yarn, too, so that has to be taken into account!
What I would suggest is that you either round up all of your old shirts and start making a lot of yarn to keep for future use, or you plan some smaller projects to start with.
Some people go to thrift shops to buy shirts to cut up, but that can get expensive. It’s one way to get enough material to use, though!
Things to know about t-shirt yarn.
T-shirt yarn isn’t the same as yarn made from other fibers. As long as you do your planning ahead of time, though, your projects with upcycled shirts will turn out well.
The t-shirt material matters.
If you’re going to be making anything that needs to be absorbent, like washcloths or kitchen towels, it’s better to use shirts that are 100% cotton, or that have a high cotton content. It you’re using synthetic fabric it won’t absorb as much water, so it won’t be as effective when you’re trying to clean up spills.
The size of the strips you cut also matters.
The wider the strips you cut, the heavier the finished yarn is going to be. If you cut a heavy t-shirt into wide strips, the finished strips will be stiffer when you crochet or knit with them. If you cut the same shirt into very thin strips, the yarn will be more flexible. So both the type of shirt and the width of the strips will make a difference, and you can adjust those to make the kind of yarn you’ll need for your project.
You need a lot of it to make large things.
If you’re going to make something big, you’re going to need a lot of t-shirt yarn. One shirt will knit a square that’s probably around 5-6″ x 12″ if you’re using size 10 knitting needles. To make anything that’s a medium to large size, you’re going to need a few shirts, at least.
You can buy the yarn if you don’t want to make it.
If you don’t have an unlimited number of old t-shirts to cut up, you can buy the yarn premade. People make it using long lengths of knit fabrics to avoid knots in the cord. It’s not the same as upcycling shirts, but for large projects where you want the entire thing to be one color, you might want to buy larger amounts of the yarn.
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Cats like it.
Like anything else, cat will try to play with the yarn as you’re working with it. The texture is appealing to them because it doesn’t shed fibers and it’s stretchy. Take advantage of that to make cat toys with it!
It’s not soft and luxurious.
When you stretch the fabric to compress the stitches and make it curl into a cord, it makes the fabric stiffer than it would be on its own. When you knit it or crochet with it or braid it later, that’s going to make it stiffer. It’s still flexible, but it’s probably not something that you’ll want to wear. This kind of yarn is usually best for things that you’ll use, not things that you’ll wear (unless it’s something like a hat!) If you start with very thin, soft cotton shirts, that will give you the softest yarn.
Sometimes the shirts don’t want to cooperate.
Depending on the type of fabric in the shirt, the yarn might not want to curl into a cord when you stretch it. I had a shirt that just flattened out because it had a different type of rib stitch in the fabric, so it wouldn’t curl. I was going to put it aside, but I used it anyway and it was fine, it was just flatter when I knit it into the piece I was working on.
Knitting might be easier if you throw the yarn.
When you knit, you either hold the yarn in your right hand and throw it onto the needle in your left hand, or you hold the yarn in your left hand and pick the stitch up with the needle in your right hand. This is the English vs. the Continental style, and you’re probably used to knitting one way or the other. I usually pick up the stitch instead of throwing it, but for this kind of yarn I found that it was easier to throw the yarn because of how stiff the yarn was.
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What to make with T-shirt yarn.
Needlework baskets.
People use t-shirt yarn to knit or crochet baskets to use for storage around the house. They can be large or small, depending on how much yarn you have.
Braided bracelets and hairbands.
You can braid t-shirt yarn into strands that can be used for friendship bracelets or hair ties.
Single-string uses.
You can use t-shirt yarn to tie things together or to wrap around gifts like ribbon. I’ve heard of people using it for gardening, and it’s useful for tying plants up to stakes because it’s soft and it won’t cut into vines or stems. If it’s all-cotton, it will also be biodegradable.
Weaving potholders.
Remember those little potholder looms you used when you were a kid to make the loopy potholders? This is the same idea, because t-shirt yarn is basically the same thing as the loops that you used for those. You can weave fabric out of the yarn that you make to create a flat fabric to use for potholders and other projects.
Needlework tote bags.
Since t-shirt yarn is really sturdy, you can knit and crochet with it to make tote bags, rugs, or other looped materials to use for projects. I’m knitting a random panel with the yarn that I made and will probably use it for something cat-related, like a bed or a basket.
T-shirt yarn is easy to make, and it’s a good way to upcycle your old shirts to keep them out of the landfill. If you make a little at a time (as you go through shirts) you’ll eventually have enough to make a project that you can use around your home.