T-shirt yarn (tarn) is quick and easy to make. It can be used in an endless array of projects. Try to using it in crochet, weaving a bath matt, or making a trendy scarf. I’ve used it to create a macrame throw.
In the macramé t-shirt throw tutorial I recommend cutting multiple strips from t-shirts. This gives you strands that are shorter and thus easier to work with, but there’s a tradeoff. As those strands get shorter you have to attach new strands. The point of connection will leave you with a less finished look. Cutting continuous t-shirt yarn, is an optional technique you can use to make your macramé t-shirt throw a bit more finished.
If you use a longer strand you’ll have less of these connection points. Working with longer strands will still be more cumbersome than working with short strands, even if you spool them. You’ll just have decide what’s more important having more consistent knots or having strands that are easier work with. Just so you know, I went with shorter stands for the throw I made for Nate Berkus and used the single stitch joining method.
Supplies
- 1 cotton jersey t-shirts
To make this a true upcycling project use shirts that can’t be worn or donated to charity. You can start the throw with 1 t-shirt, but you can add more t-shirts as you acquire them to make the throw bigger. - 1 ruler
- 1 pair of scissors
- rotary cutter or X-Acto knife
How-To
- Fold your t-shirt, by bringing the right edge of the shirt, which is closest to you, towards the left edge of the shirt, which is farther from you. Don’t bring them together all the way. Leave about 2″ of space between them.
- Smooth out your shirt as much a possible. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but large creases can give your strips jagged, inconsistent edges.
- Cut off the bottom hem.
- Cut 1″ wide strips. Starting the cut from the right edge of the shirt down to the folded side. Notice the strip is still attached, because we left a 2″ allowance between the right and left sides of the shirt.
- Continue cutting out the rest of the strips.
- When you reach the sleeves. Start your cut from the left edge of the shirt this time to fully separate it from the remaining portion.
- Open up the shirt and insert your hand through all the loops. Notice the right slit and the left slit.
- Cut towards the left slit diagonally from the outer edge.
- Now starting from the right slit cut diagonally towards left slit.
- Repeat this until all the left slits have been cut.
- For the last cut, start from the right slit and cut towards the outer edge.
- Stretch the t-shirt strand to curl in the edges. Be careful to make sure the edges curl in evenly. To ensure, this untwist the strand before stretching.
- Stretch the t-shirt yarn a second time going in the opposite direction to ensure it’s fully stretched and curled.
Useful tips
- This technique can also be used with plastic bags to make plarn or plastic yarn, with the exception that you won’t need to stretch the plastic bag to finish it.
- Not sure what else to make with your tarn? Here are a few projects you can try.
Special thanks to Doris, Scott, Sara
This tutorial is awesome! I had read that you need t-shirts without side seams to make the continuous yarn, but your tutorial doesn’t mention that. Did you use shirts with seams? If so, did it impact the curling? I am not sure I have ever seen a t-shirt without seams. Thanks!!!
Hi Carissa. In the video I used an old undershirt which didn’t have seams. You can definitely use t-shirts with seams. I use t-shirts with seams all the time. The t-shirt yarn will still curl, but you’ll have a noticeable bump in the t-shirt yarn. I’ll post a picture of what I do to minimize the bump.
Seams really aren’t that disruptive to proper curling of t-shirt yarns. It’s printed graphics that cause problems, so it’s best to use plain shirts. If you need very consistent yarn it’s best to use plain seamless shirts. Let me see if in can figure out another method to make completely smooth continuous t-shirt yarn from shirts with seams. Thanks so much for visiting me and asking great questions, Carissa!
Im going to try a scarf out of an old under armour t-shirt! That will be perfect for wicking away moisture while doing winter sports!
I’ve never considered cutting up a stretchy Under Armour shirt. Wow…now that’s different! You’ll have to keep me updated on how it goes! Thanks for writing in, Angie!
i have a ton of tee-shirts, so thanks for the great idea
Thank you so much for this tutorial, which I found through Pinterest. When I read the article, I wasn’t understanding how to start cutting the strips, but the video was very helpful to a visual learner such as I am. I’m now ready to turn my hubby’s old t-shirts, which I have over-dyed, into a large basket for my kid’s toy 🙂
I’m a visual learner too. I’m so glad the video helped.
Wow, that sounds like a cool project! I’d love to see how it turns out. Thanks for visiting me and for writing, Cecilia.
Thank you for this. Brilliant video. Im going to cut some t shirts up and knit a tote bag. Thank you.
Thanks for visiting and commenting, Sarah! Tell me how the tote comes out!