I absolutely love using t-shirt yarn for my crochet projects. However, I’m not a huge fan of the price point or the fact that it’s so hard to find (none of my local craft stores carry it). So, for the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to find some t-shirt yarn in pink & purple locally….but I just couldn’t! This made me wonder how hard would it be to make t-shirt yarn myself.

This question sent me down the path of discovery. I bought a couple of shirts from Goodwill for under $5 and got to work cutting them up! I, of course, took pictures and made a video so if you are wanting to make your own t-shirt yarn then you would know exactly how to! During the process, I did come across some things that I really liked about making my own t-shirt yarn and…some things that I didn’t like at all. So, make sure to read to the end of the post to see the Pros & Cons that I found out about making my own t-shirt yarn!

This post contains affiliate links. That’s just a fancy way of saying if you click on a link and purchase something I get a little money (total score for me). For more information, see my disclosure here.

What You Need!

• Cotton T-Shirt
• Scissors ~ or Rotary
• Ruler

FYI!

• I used a Gildan Heavy Cotton shirt that is 100% cotton. I’m sure you could use other blended shirts but I personally have never used anything but totally cotton shirts
• For the tutorial I use regular sewing scissors to cut my strips. However, you could totally use a rotary and a hard ruler to make the strips.
• The shirt sizes that I used for the tutorial where 3XL and 2XL. These yielded 80 yards of yarn from the 3XL and 70 yards of yarn from the 2XL shirt.

Are You A Visual Learner?

If so, then you’re in luck! Check out the video to see the t-shirt yarn being made from start to finish!

What To Do!

Main Body Of Shirt

To begin making t-shirt yarn you need to either cut or seam rip the bottom seam of the shirt.

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Then fold the shirt in half with the two sleeves lined up towards you.

Next, cut across the body of the shirt right under the sleeves.

Then take the body of the shirt and fold it up. Place the folded side of the shirt towards you.

The top of the folded shirt should be at least 1 inch away from the other side’s top.

Next, start cutting 3/4 inch strips from the main body shirt.

Make sure that you stop cutting the strips at least 1/2 inch to 1 inch from the top of the shirt. This will insure that you can make a continuous run.

Continue cutting the strips until you get to the end of the main body.

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Next, cut to top first strip at a diagonal.

Are You A Visual Learner?

If so, then you’re in luck! Check out the video to see the t-shirt yarn being made from start to finish!

Then take your scissors and cut in a diagonal from the first bottom strip to the second top strip. Continue cutting each strip in a diagonal until you reach the end of the shirt.

Shirt Sleeves

Next, cut the sleeves from the top of the shirt.

Then seam rip or cut the seams open.

Next, lay the shirt sleeve flat with the open sides of the shirt facing right and left.

Then start cutting the 3/4 inch strips.

Make sure to not cut the strips all the way to the end. You want to leave at least 1/2 inch to 1 inch part uncut.

Next, cut the top first strip at a diagonal.

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Then take your scissors and cut the bottom first strip diagonally to the second top strip. Continue cutting the strips on a diagonal till you get to the end of the sleeve. Next, repeat these steps to cut up the other sleeve.

Are You A Visual Learner?

If so, then you’re in luck! Check out the video to see the t-shirt yarn being made from start to finish!

Neck Section Of Shirt

Then cut the neck band off of the shirt.

Next, fold the shirt in half and place the folded side towards you.

Then start cutting 3/4 inch strips in the shirt. Make sure to stop cutting the strips 1/2 inch to 1 inch from the top of the shirt.

Next, keep cutting the strips until you are about 1 inch from the neck of the shirt.

Then open the neck section of the shirt and lay it out flat. Starting at one of the sides cut free the first strip at the bottom edge.

Next, at the top edge cut free the second strip. Continue cutting the strips in a zip zag pattern until you get to the neck section.

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Then at the neck section you have to free hand the zig zag because we didn’t cut any strips earlier.

Finishing Touches

Once you have all of your pieces cut it’s time to finish your t-shirt yarn up! Take the corners of your continuous runs and trim them into a rounded corner.

Then you are ready for the most fun part of the process! Next, take the yarn and gently pull on the yarn until it starts rolling onto itself (so fun).

Then knot your yarn pieces together to make them one continuous run of yarn. Of course there are several ways of joining yarn, but I just use a simple knot. This is because when I use the yarn in a project I take the knot out and join the next piece of yarn as I do with a new color yarn.

Next, all that is left is use the t-shirt yarn to crochet or knit a special project!

Pros & Cons

As promised below are the Pros & Cons that I came across as I was making the t-shirt yarn. So…take a look and you make the choice if making the yarn verses buying it is the right decision for you and your project!

Pros

• Cheaper ~ Making your own t-shirt yarn is totally cheaper than buying it already made. I only spent $2 per shirt at my local Goodwill and got 70 to 80 yards from one shirt. When compared to store-bought yarn I saved at least $7 dollars per 70 yards!
• Easy To Do ~ The process to make t-shirt yarn is SUPER simple and most creatives can easily make it.
• Can Get Any Color ~ The sky is the limit for color choices! Since you can easily find t-shirts in a huge array of colors finding the exact color you want for your yarn shouldn’t be that hard. Seriously, my local Hobby Lobby has a TON of shirt colors to choose from!
• More Readily Available ~ Since you can find t-shirts absolutely EVERYWHERE (even my local grocery store has t-shirts) it’s super easy to find a shirt to cut up. And…you could even raid your own closet for t-shirts that you no longer wear.
• Can Use A Sentimental Shirt ~ I love the idea that you can take a t-shirt that has a sentimental attachment to it and make t-shirt yarn with it to make something special! This would be super cool to do as a gift for someone that is attached to a specific shirt that can no longer be worn.
• Cool That You Made Your Own Yarn ~ As a creative, it totally tickles me when I make absolutely every aspect of a craft project (I tend to giggle about this). So, to say that you not only crocheted or knitted the project but also made the yarn from scratch sounds pretty amazing (just imagine the looks on people’s faces when you tell them)!

Cons

• Messy ~ Since you are literally cutting the fibers that make up the t-shirt fabric there is a TON of what I call fabric dust. The little pieces of the shirt that I cut up went absolutely EVERYWHERE! Seriously, my clothes, floor, table, and even my sweet furry loves were all covered in pink fabric dust.
• Time Consuming ~ Even though making your own t-shirt yarn is pretty easy it’s still time consuming. Making sure that you trim all the edges, join the non-continuous runs, and cut off any seams or screen printing takes quite a bit of time.
• Inconsistent Sizes ~ I tried really hard to cut each strip the same size but unfortunately, it’s just not possible (you are working with a weird shape). So, my yarn differs greatly in size (width of the yarn). This could be a big problem where gauge is super important.
• Corners Of Yarn Strips Look Wonky ~ Even after you trim the yarn strip corners when you pull the yarn some of the corners don’t roll under right and look bulgy. One way to get around this is to cut the yarn where the weird corner is and join the now two pieces with a knot (essentially cutting the weird corner off).
• A Lot Of Non-Continuous Runs ~ The biggest downfall to me about making your own t-shirt yarn is the amount of non-continuous runs that you get. I know some people like to use all of the shirt including seams and screen printing, but I don’t. So, that means that I have to cut my yarn and join the pieces with a knot which makes it harder to use later in a project.
• Not As Professional Looking ~ Let’s face it, buying t-shirt yarn that is made in a factory is going to look way more professional than cutting up a t-shirt and making your own yarn. This could very important if you plan on making something to sell. Of course, if you are just making a project for yourself or like the more unfinished look of the homemade t-shirt yarn then this might not bother you.

So, overall I think for me that making t-shirt yarn is too time consuming and doesn’t yield enough consecutive runs to make it worthwhile. However, although I don’t think this will be something that I continue making I did have a blast making the t-shirt yarn and totally answered the question if I could! I hope that the tutorial and the Pros & Cons list will help you make the decision if making t-shirt yarn is the right thing for you and your projects.

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Are You A Visual Learner?

If so, then you’re in luck! Check out the video to see the t-shirt yarn being made from start to finish!

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