Four cool things you can make out of your old t-shirts

Like many of us who hoard clothes we don’t wear anymore, you might think of tossing them out or giving them away, but how often do you really have the motivation? 

Considering how cute and affordable t-shirts are, it's a little too easy to collect them and sometimes we find ourselves with a somewhat ridiculous surplus of tees. Luckily, in addition to being comfortable and forever-fashionable, t-shirts are also extremely versatile.

There are many creative ways to repurpose and reuse them to make many wonderful crafts.

So if you’re in the process of downsizing, simplifying, and minimizing your closet, below are some of the ideas you can consider to put your old tee into some good use. 

Step 1

Cut off the sleeves. Fold the t-shirt into half and cut both sleeves together. If the material is too heavy cut one sleeve, then use it as a guide to cut the other one.

Step 2

Place a bowl on the collar or neckline and using a washable marker, trace the outline of the bowl before cutting.

Step 3

Turn the t-shirt inside out and using a marker trace a line across to determine where you want the bottom of the bag to be.

Step 4

Cut the bottom into fringes and tie them making several knots.

Step 5

Turn the t-shirt inside out and tie the straps at the collar together. Add any embellishments if you may choose to your new bag.

Throw pillows are a great way to add some personality into any space.

Step 1

Start by cutting off the sides of the t-shirt. If it has a unique design you want to be the point of focus, make sure to cut up the sides to leave the design in the center of the square or rectangle.

Step 2

Cut off the collar.

Step 3

Now flip the front and back pieces of the pillow so the right sides are facing each other. And pin around the edges to hold it in place as you sew.

Step 4

Sew around the cut edges leaving a margin of 1/2 inch. Leave the bottom edge or hemmed edge of the t-shirt open for stuffing.

Step 5

Turn the pillow right side out and stuff with stuffing as full as desired.

Step 6

Stitch the bottom. Since the hemmed edge at the bottom is still intact, sew across the bottom on the right side of the fabric about 1/4 inch from the bottom edge.

To make the edges a little crisper, you can sew around the other 3 sides about a 1/4 of an inch from the edge of the pillow to make a nice edging all the way around.

Take all your meaningful t-shirts and sew them together to create a quilt.

Step 1

Make a square or rectangle template to cut out all of your t-shirts. Take the fusible interfacing and cut out your template shape as well. Iron the t-shirt squares to the fusible interfacing. This makes sure that the t-shirts don’t become too stretched when you try to sew them all together. Otherwise your shirts might not match up properly.

Step 2

Sew all of your t-shirts together into a giant blanket and voila!

Step 1

Cut the front design out in a large rectangle from sleeve inseam to sleeve inseam, and from under the neck to the bottom of the shirt.

Step 2

Fold the bottom of the shirt up until it's right under the design, then fold the hem down for a more finished look. Sew into four even sections, with the end section sewn into two for spoon slots.

Step 3

Using the back of your shirt, cut 6 strips, 2.5" x 24."

Step 4

Sew the three strips together into one and repeat for the other three. You will be left with two long ‘’snakes.’’

Step 5

Put them on top of each other with wrong sides facing and seams matched, pin, and stitch all the way around to make your apron ties.

Step 6

Then pin your apron skirt to the back in the center and sew on. There you have it.

Step 1

Lay out your t-shirt and place the glass from your picture frame over the part of the graphic you would like to cut. If you use a larger frame, you could use the entire graphic but for a smaller frame only use the graphic part.

Step 2

Cut out the area of interest in this case the graphic part.

Step 3

Place the cut graphic piece into the frame and hang it.