How to make T shirt yarn

Transform a tee into chunky yarn for crochet or knitting with this super-quick tutorial for how to make t shirt yarn from One Social Girl. You'll be rolling in t-shirt yarn for years to come!

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Zoe Williams

Published: May 28, 2021 at 8:00 am

We're all about recycling materials to make something new - we even have an upcycling section right here on Gathered! Fast fashion is awful for the planet and every year thousands of t shirts end up in landfills across the world. One Girl Social is on a mission to change that! She's created this fab t shirt yarn tutorial which will show you how to turn old clothes into your own chunky t-shirt yarn. T shirt yarn and plarn are great alternatives to wool and are just as easy to knit, knot, or make with. It's a really diverse material and can be really unique depending on the design and colour of your t shirt. Follow One Girl Social's how to make T shirt yarn tutorial then use your new yarn on a project right here on Gathered. Isabella Strambio's macrame bunting would be a great project to use your new t shirt yarn on. Now on with the tutorial!

Once you've learned how to make t shirt yarn head to our recycled craft ideas collection for some more eco-friendly projects! Or for equally soothing DIYs, how about our guides to how to make bath bombs or how to make wax melts?

This project was created by One Girl Social for Mollie Makes magazine – for more easy-make craft projects and creative inspiration, subscribe to Mollie or click here to find out more.

Tee shirt yarn tutorial

How to make t-shirt yarn

You will need:

Scissors
T-shirt (Use a t-shirt without seams)

Step 1

Lay your t-shirt out on a work surface. Cut a horizontal line directly under the sleeves. Also cut off the hem on the bottom of the shirt. You only need the middle section for this project. Discard the top and bottom pieces.

How to make tshirt yarn step 1

Step 2

Fold one side of the t-shirt towards to the other, leaving a 1 inch space at the top. Cut into strips (1 inches thick) – do not cut the space at the top.

How to make tshirt yarn step 2

Step 3

Unfold the t-shirt so you can see the separate strips. Following the photo, begin cutting the strips diagonally across. Starting at the first strip, cut diagonally to the second strip. Repeat across.

How to make tshirt yarn step 3

You’ve learnt how to make tshirt yarn and now you need some projects to make with it! We’ve got 10 t shirt yarn projects here on Gathered to get you feeling inspired.

Step 4

Now that you have a single strip of t-shirt yarn, pull it through your hands to create the tube shape. This enables the edges to curl.

How to make tshirt yarn step 4

Step 5

Keep pulling until it is all tube-shaped. Roll the t-shirt yarn into a ball and your tshirt yarn is complete!

How to make tshirt yarn step 5

Now you’ve learned how to make your own t shirt yarn remember to take a picture and share them with us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. And remember the eco-friendly projects don’t stop there. We teach you how to make beeswax wraps and have over 40 sustainable crafts that will turn your home and wardrobe into an eco-friendly paradise.

Oh and subscribe to Mollie Makes for more projects using t-shirt yarn.

About One Social Girl

Meredith Crawford is a crafter, blogger and the author of crochet pattern book, Crochet with One Sheepish Girl. She also operates a boutique brand communication studio, offering photography, styling and social media management support. She’s also the designer behind this t-shirt yarn tutorial so go and give her a follow on social media and read her blog www.onesocialgirl.com.

Launch Editor, Gathered.how

Zoe launched Gathered.how as editor in 2019. A keen crafter, quilter and sewist, she has worked with the UK’s best-selling craft magazines – from Today’s Quilter to Love Patchwork & Quilting, Simply Sewing and The World of Cross Stitching. With over a decade of craft publishing experience under her belt, she loves crafting with her kids and curling up on the sofa with a spot of hand patchwork. Zoe has previously written for radiotimes.com, Simply Knitting and The World of Cross Stitching and was previously Deputy Editor of Papercraft inspirations magazine. She has guest-lectured at Bath Spa University. She’s a keen quilter with 5 projects in progress at any one time and another 12 or so planned. Specialist skills include hand modelling for YouTube craft tutorials and fabric foraging (she has an inbuilt radar for local haberdasheries and community craft gatherings).