I found this link for a necklace up-cycle (from an old t-shirt) here. It was a really cute idea and I just happened to have an old t-shirt that was perfect for this!
The Martha Stewart link suggested using the whole shirt, but I only used four strips. It came out looking pretty cool!
Here are the steps:
Take an old t-shirt or camisole and spread it flat on a cutting surface (it has to be t-shirt style material, not anything ribbed, trust me on this one - - I already tried! lol).
Measure and cut strips (or skinny tubes) from the t-shirt. I used 1/2" strips and that came out great; but, you could use wider strips to make it more chunky.Separate the strips and take each one and stretch it out by holding on to the seams and then pulling a bit to make it curl or roll in itself. I did the strips individually so that I could make sure that the tubes didn't come apart at the seams. The more you stretch, the more the tube curls in on itself. To make the curls tighter, I also took each tube (after pulling on it a bit) and then just separated my hands by 6 inches or so and pulled it again a little bit more.
Put all the tubes together at the seams. You should have all the tube/circles joined together and all the seams in just about the same place. Hold one side of the sets of seams with one hand and the other side with the other hand. Twist one hand around 180 degrees (one hand should be facing up and one hand facing down). This will give you a figure eight with your tubes/circles. Put both sets of seams together and pin to keep them in place. Cut one more strip from your t-shirt and use that (without stretching) to wrap around (or hide) your pinned sets of seams. (Remove the pins.) I wrapped the final piece around and around until it wouldn't go anymore, tied it as tight as possible, and then knotted it. I cut off the hanging ends and then singed it with a small torch to make sure it wouldn't fray. I don't know if that last step was actually necessary, but I did it just in case!
I also made a purple one for Miss M (out of one of her old t-shirts) that she really liked wearing!!!
In the future, I will attempt to take more pics at each actual step so that my explanations don't have to stand on their own so much.
More later!! :)
