DIY: T-Shirt Yarn Scarf

Found this adorable scarf on etsy and decided I needed to recreate it for myself…

Supplies:
– a t-shirt
– scissors
– needle
– thread

STEP 1: MAKING T-SHIRT YARN

First trim the bottom hem off the shirt

If the shirt is longer in the front or along the sides trim up the excess.

Next, cut off the bust & sleeves in a straight line under the armpits

Cutting “guidelines” helped make sure the yarn would be even, but leave at least an inch along the side seams. Each section of yarn should be at least an inch across. The larger the section, the thicker and looser the yarn will be.

Once all the guidelines are cut, cut parallel to the hem until an inch from the opposite side seam.

Continue this process with the whole piece of fabric.

Next, lay the fabric flat along one side seam.

Then cut diagonally along the lines shown below.

As you cut each section, move the long strip of “yarn” off to one side.

When you get to the opposite seam, continue with the same diagonal cuts used on the first seam.

Eventually, you will be left with a long strip of fabric that will become your yarn.

Gently tugging on the fabric will cause it to roll up into itself making it “yarn”.

Next, cut along every other side seam to make long, even strips

STEP 2: MAKING THE SCARF

Lay all the strips out so that the remaining side seams are next to each other (I chose to use 9 so there would be 3 strands for each section of the braid). Then use one of the leftover pieces to tie the loose strands together.

Next, braid on section of the loose strands and then tie off the ends.

You don’t HAVE to do this next step, but I think it makes the scarf look a lot prettier…

Make a “cover” to hide the knots using scrap fabric.

Fold the edges in and sew it inside out, that way when you flip it right side out the seam will be hidden.

Trim the excess fabric and flip it inside out

Slide the cover up over the knot to hide it.

Repeat those steps to make a second cover and slide it on over the braid (just to hold it for a moment until you’ve completed the next step).

Then, tie the loose ends of the yarn to the loose ends of the braid. Tie it very tightly. And trim the excess fabric off both ends.

Now slide the extra cover up over the knot

All done!! Here’s the finished product….

DIY: Low Maintenance Mini Zen Garden

Inspired by a Mini Zen Garden I saw on Pinterest, I decided to give it a go.

And after multiple failed attempts…I finally got it right!

I started with a layer of glass beads as the base (about 1/3 of the bowl).

Then added a layer of small rocks. These particular rocks happen to have been collected from my trip to Cape May with my husband back when we were still just dating. I’ve had them in a water bottle and been looking for a project to use them for.

Then I carefully decided where the cacti would be placed, packed them in with a layer of very gritty silt like dirt

The dirt was then covered with sand (from our honeymoon in the Bahamas!) and I added some accents like stones and shells.

I used a regular old kitchen fork to draw some designs in the sand.

And voila!!

Our cat Sam is very interested in the new addition to the coffee table.

Hopefully the little furball doesn’t try to eat or play with the cacti. I don’t see that going over well.

So how much did this cost me?

$4 for the bowl
$3 for the glass beads
$0 for the rocks, dirt, sand, and shells
$6 for 3 cacti

Grand Total: $13

Level of skill required… Debatable! Now that I know what I’m doing I could totally do it again easily. But it took me a while to work out the logistics so that none of the layers ran together (the garden on Pinterest only had sand and I wanted something a little more fun and artsy).

Definitely worth the time and money!!!

Next project: a scarf made out of tshirt yarn!