Wednesday, September 3, 2014

DIY t-shirt yarn!

With Blue in Kindergarten now, I only have one crazy bambino to tame and she's pretty easy to occupy. This means I have a significant amount of time to spend on crafty things, which is super awesome. Yesterday I decided to try making my own t-shirt yarn, and it went rather well. I've had an old tie-dye shirt I don't fit anymore and I haven't been able to bring myself to throw it out because well, why waste good tie-dye? Blue came home while I was working on it and was fascinated enough to be my helper. He's a sweetheart like that. Anyway, it was super easy so I bet I'll be making more in the near future. Want to know how to make your own?

Step 1: Cut your t-shirt from armpit to armpit, then cut off the bottom hem. Fold that fucker hamburger, with an inch allowance at the top, then start cutting 1 inch strips.

Step 2: Crumple them up a smidge and take a pretty picture.

 Step 3: Unfold your now spaghetti shredded shirt and lay out the inch that is holding all your strands together.

 Step 4: I wrapped my shirt around my cutting mat so I could see where I was cutting. This is optional, but I'm the kind of person who messes up the simplest of tasks.

Step 5: Cut from the first strip of fabric, over to the second, diagonally. This is how your yarn makes a continuous strand instead of a bunch of t-shirt loops. (This is where having a kid comes in handy, they can hold the other side while you man the scissors.)

Step 6: Unravel your yarn from your cutting mat and breathe a sigh of relief when you find out that you actually did it right.

 Step 7: Starting from one end, stretch the shirt, so it rolls in a bit, and work your way through to the other end.

Step 8: Now roll that shit into a ball.

Step 9: Good job! Now go make a cup of tea and get ready to crochet something stellar.

See? Easy peasy.