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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Making T-Yarn from Recycled Tee-Shirts | My Recycled Bags.com

Making T-Yarn from Recycled Tee-Shirts | My Recycled Bags.com

Making T-Yarn from Recycled Tee-Shirts

Posted on June 5, 2009

T-Yarn Ball This is a tutorial on how to make T-yarn from old recycled tee-shirts. T-yarn maybe a new term to you. T-yarn or Tarn is what the yarn is being called that is made from cutting t-shirts into strips for crafting.

The best t-shirts are ones that do not have side seams as you can cut around and around starting at the bottom. First cut off the hem and then with a sharp pair of scissors cut strips about 1/2″ to 3/4″ wide. Cut in one continuous strip as I have shown here.

All photos are clickable to supersize them
T-Yarn1 T-Yarn2T-Yarn3

T-Yarn4
I stopped at the armhole openings as this was the end of my continuous strip that is completely one piece cut in rounds. You can cut off the sleeves and start another continuous strip at this point but it’s not as smooth as the main body because you will have curves in your strip where you have to turn the corners.

T-Yarn5
To create the circular T-yarn, you gently pull on the strip. I found the best way to do this is by taking a short length about 1-2 feet long and stretching it. The stretching causes the tee-shirt strip to turn in on itself thus creating your rounded T-yarn. One important warning is not to pull too hard otherwise the strip breaks. I did have this happen on my first attempts so be advised to gently pull on the strip until it won’t stretch any further. Then you move to the next section of your strand and stretch it again. Continue stretching your strip until the whole long continuous strand has been stretched and is curled as shown in the photo.

T-Yarn Stitching SampleClick to supersize
Here is a small sample of what the curled T-yarn looks like when you crochet with it. It’s smooth to work with and has a nice finished look. You can either crochet or knit with the recycled yarn that has been created. This circular T-yarn would make excellent potholders, trivets and of course is perfect for a recycled tote bag. One large tee-shirt netted about 90 yards of T-yarn once stretched. So grab your crochet hook or knitting needles and experiment with this recycled material to create some wonderful eco craft projects.

5 comments:

  1. Great tutorial - I love reusing. :)

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  2. I think this is great I've seen sites selling stuff like this and its really expensive.Wonder would it work with silk

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  3. This is really cool! It's amazing. AmyHarrison41689 from Swap-Bot

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  4. HI Angelina, am here from Blog Friends Swap on SB
    I admire creative people, so am happy to have stopped by at you blog.
    This is a great idea for recycling. Have been seeing these on the net for sometime now and i shall try it out soon. Cheers!

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  5. this is pretty much the best thing ever in the world... i'm most absolutely going to be doing this! like WOAH!

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