Scarves from tees

More t-shirt refashion!

Potter cleaned out his dresser the other day and brought me a garbage bag of clothes for the thrift store.  I looked in it and grabbed a couple tees that were a nice color and mostly solid so that I could play around with them. 

I watched a video from our local lifestyle show and was thrilled that I could have scarves from t-shirts that were A) free and B) no sewing, which means fast.  See the video and more examples here:
http://www.thediydish.com/2011/02/make-an-infinity-scarf-kim-shows-the-how-to-on-studio-5/



I made this one literally in 10 minutes and snapped this quick picture before running out the door to a meeting. 

Gold/mustard colored scarf (and I clipped a black flower from the girls' hair clips on it):

Basic instructions:

-cut the bottom hem off a tee

-cut "rings" of knit by cutting two inch strips straight across the body of the tee beneath the arms

-stretch each strip (like exercise bands) and the edges will curl and make skinny cords

- bundle together as many as you want (I think I did six)

-tie together with a small strip of t-shirt (I put my flower clip over the knot)

Easy, eh?

Then I wanted to do a ruffly one - it's my favorite from the show.

This one was from a taupe-y colored tee:

This one took about 20 minutes. 

Basic instructions:

-cut out circles approximately 9 inches in diameter 

-cut each circle into a spiral

-run your hand along each spiraled strip, stretching the knit a little and it will look ruffly

-if your strips are short, glue two together at the end to make longer ones

-bundle several together

-tie any way you like (I looped around my head and then loosely tied a piece of fabric to keep in place)

Now, If I'd used a XL or XXL like the video suggests, my scarves would be more full since I could get more strips out of those than I did from my son's size medium shirts.  But because I'm pretty top heavy I like that I don't have extra bulk where I don't want it.  So this works for me.

Got tees on their way to the thrift store?  Save them!!

Ruffle shirt

You all know I love to copy the great ideas of others. 

I love love love this tutorial from

Tea Rose Home to make this:

I started with two white tees I didn't like - not the same but close enough. 

One was too short after being washed a few times and the other was too thin/clingy.

I took the short one and cut it into strips . Then I ruffled each one and laid them out in rows.  They aren't all exactly the same length and I wanted it that way.  I didn't want it too neat or perfect and I wasn't going for a tuxedo look.

Sew each ruffle on, overlapping slightly so the top edges are hidden. The best part of using old tees is that knit fabric doesn't fray, so all the edges can be left raw. 

I went all the way down the front of mine (in the example she goes about halfway down the bodice).  Nice coverage on the tummy.

I am so very happy about how it turned out!  Now I want to scour clearance racks for pairs of matching tees to see what else I can make!  

Here is a cell phone pic before leaving for a hot date with hubby.  I love it with the blue cardigan even more.

Cost: $0.  Don't throw that weird tee away.  See what you can do with what you already have!

T-shirt fix

2 year old found the scissors.

Can you see it?

An inch long slice in the center of the tee (how did she not get her skin??)

I freehanded a flower shape out of scrap fabric and cut it out

and ironed some hem tape to the back to keep it in place while I sewed a zig zag around it.

Applique for a toddler oops!

For what it's worth, I took an adorable pic of my Rosebud wearing it yesterday, but it appears to have vanished off the camera :/ and the shirt is in the wash so I can't get another at the moment.

 Linking to:

TCB