KNITTING T shirt yarn,Yarn hacks kd 7 Comments 3 min read
Sandi RosnerJuly 12, 2023
7 Comments
✓Join us at Maker Festivals Colorado, the ultimate crafting extravaganza in Loveland from April 10-13, 2024, where the beloved Yarn Fest evolves with an exciting addition of beads and jewelry artists!
T-shirt yarn (aka jersey yarn) has become a popular choice for crocheting or knitting handbags and home dec projects. The material is perfect for sturdy projects that need strength to hold up to wear and tear. And sure, you can easily buy T-shirt yarn. But making your own T-shirt yarn is easy and thrifty.
Read on to see how it’s done.
What You’ll Need to Make T-Shirt Yarn
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Of course, you’ll need one or more T-shirts, in one or more colors. Start with your family’s cast-offs. See what you can find at your local thrift store. Bigger shirts will obviously yield more yarn. Avoid shirts with screen-printed or iron-on graphics. For best results, choose shirts without side seams. The side seams will create lumps in your yarn. This isn’t the end of the world, but why not avoid lumps if you can? I found a men’s size 2XL seamless T-shirt to use for this project.
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While you can absolutely make your yarn using nothing more than a sharp pair of scissors, a rotary cutter gets the job done fast.
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If you’re using a rotary cutter, you’ll need a self-healing cutting mat to avoid damaging your tabletop.
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A clear acrylic ruler guides your rotary cutter and helps keep the width of your T-shirt yarn consistent.
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You’ll need some sort of erasable fabric marking tool.I used a tailor’s chalk pencil.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Making T-Shirt Yarn
1
Begin by cutting the shirt from underarm to underarm, then cut off the hem of the shirt (Photo 1). You’ll only be using the seamless body, so the top of the shirt can go into your rag bag.
2
Use your chalk marker and ruler to mark a line 1″ away from the fold along one side of the shirt body (Photo 2). Your cuts will be made from the opposite fold of the shirt up to this line.
3
Begin cutting your shirt into connected strips. Using your ruler and rotary cutter (or a pair of sharp scissors), make a series of cuts from the far folded edge of the shirt to your marked line. My cuts are about 1″ apart (Photo 3). Closer cuts will make thinner yarn, but you’ll risk having yarn that falls apart if your strips are less than 1/2″ wide. Wider strips will make thicker yarn.
You do not need to be terribly precise here—if your cuts are not perfectly straight, or if you cut a bit over your marked line, it’s all good.
4
Keep cutting until you read the other side of your shirt (Photo 4). You’ll end up with a series of loops connected with a solid section at the top (Hula skirt? Part of a drive-through car wash?)
5
Open out the loops as well as you can so the connected section lies flat on your table. We’re going to cut through that section so that your shirt becomes one continuous strip of fabric. Make your first cut on a diagonal from the edge of the fabric to the top of the last slit you cut (Photo 5).
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Continue cutting through the connected section on a diagonal, from the end of one slit to the end of the next slit on the other side (Photo 6). When you get to the end, make your last cut on the diagonal from the end of the last slit to the edge of the fabric.
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You’ll end up with a continuous strip of T-shirt fabric (Photo 7).
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The final step is to transform the fabric into yarn. Simply grasp a section of your strip between your hands and stretch it lengthwise. The sides of the strip will curl inward, and you’ll have yarn (Photo 8). It will also stay stretched, so the yardage of your finished yarn will be more than that of your freshly cut strip!
Wind your new yarn into a ball, and you’re ready to knit or crochet.
Related: How to Hand-Wind a Ball of Yarn
Video: Making Your Own T-Shirt Yarn
There’s a fun video in our Interweave Yarn Hacks series about making T-shirt Yarn. Hannah follows basically the same process, except she folds the T-shirt in half before cutting strips. This can be helpful if you’re using scissors rather than a rotary cutter.
Related: Rag Yarn: Making Your Own Yarn from Fabric
How Much Yarn Does It Make?
My men’s size 2XL T-shirt provided enough yarn to crochet this little basket, about 4″ tall and 4″ diameter. I used a size N-15 (10mm) crochet hook. Sorry, there is no pattern for this—I simply improvised. But you’ll find some patterns perfect for T-shirt yarn below.
Have you made T-shirt yarn? What are some of your favorite projects for this kind of yarn? Let us know in the comments!
Sandi Rosneris the technical content editor for all things yarn at Interweave. When she isn’t knitting, she usually has her nose in a book. You’ll find new technical content from Sandi nearly every week atwww.interweave.com.
Note: This article contains affiliate links to products independently chosen by our editors. If you choose to purchase through our links, we may receive a small commission. Thank you!
Projects for T-Shirt Yarn
- Caressing Carpet Crochet Pattern Download$7.99
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- Simply Knit Baskets Knitting Pattern Download$7.99
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- Basket Cases Crochet Pattern Download$7.99
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- Home Grown Plant Cozy Crochet Pattern Download$7.99
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- Cask Baskets Knitting Pattern Download$7.99
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- How to Knit with Jersey Knit Yarn: Make the Perfect Market Bag Video Download$24.99
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- Linked Nesting Baskets Crochet Pattern Download$7.99
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- Plaid Rug Crochet Pattern Download$7.99
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Rebecca KingJuly 25, 2023
I practiced with a grocery plastic bag and figured it out. When I spread the bag on the table, after cutting all of the strips, count the bottom strip as number 1. I cut a diagonal from the right edge of 1, towards the left edge of 1 across the 2” left in the middle of the strips. Then cut diagonal from right edge of strip 2 to the right edge of strip 1. Then right edge of strip 3 to right edge of strip 2, and so on.
Sandi RosnerJuly 25, 2023
So sorry some are finding steps 5 and 6 confusing. Hopefully this diagram will help.
Diane SmallJuly 25, 2023
I don’t understand steps 5 & 6 where you cut the diagonal but it remains a strip. I love the idea! And I have tons of T-shirt I can use! I will slow down the video to see if I can figure it out along with the written instructions.
some people would like to see this in normal speed especially since it is hard to see details when you can see the hands or the scissors but not the fabric being cut. TOO FAST!!!!! The instructions weren’t clear enough to dispense with the video so the video can’t be at superman speed. Or better yet, make it so that people who need snail speed can select that while speed demons can choose that.
Andrea LotzJuly 20, 2023
It took us a while, but we have added step-by-step instructions to this tutorial so that the instructions are more clear, while the video serves as an overview of the process. Thanks so much for this valuable feedback!
Rebecca KingJuly 25, 2023
Steps 5 and 6 are not clear. Very confusing.
some people would like to see this in normal speed especially since it is hard to see details when you can see the hands or the scissors but not the fabric being cut. TOO FAST!!!!! The instructions weren’t clear enough to dispense with the video so the video can’t be at superman speed. Or better yet, make it so that people who need snail speed can select that while speed demons can choose that.
