Multiple Uses for T-shirts
I look into my closet and realize I have a large number of t-shirts. Ones from races, ones from work, ones from rugby, and a long list of others. T-shirts have become inexpensive and I seem to always be collecting new ones. I know I can’t wear all of them so I periodically go through my closet to thin out the ones I don’t wear. I could just donate them to a charity, but some of them I don’t wear, yet they have meaning to me or they have holes and probably won’t be worn by anyone. Overtime I have started to re-purpose t-shirts in various ways.
Quilts
I have a quilt that my godmother made when I was in high school. Twenty-five years later I still have that quilt. I have a lot of t-shirts that I don’t wear, but they hold memories. Whether it be the years I spent mentoring youth in 4-H, all the races I have been a part of, or the years of playing rugby, they all are part of a story. What better way to remember the story then creating a quilt to be used for years to come! A throw quilt to keep you warm on the couch on a cold winter night or to take along on a rugby trip, keeping the light out in the car in order to catch a couple of zzzz’s!
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T-shirt Lap Quilt |
Rugs
We have a lot of hardwood floors so it is nice to have a couple of throw rugs by the doors to help trap all of the dirt and debris that can be dragged into the house. After having to replace a couple of rugs I needed to find rugs I could easily throw in the washing machine if needed. I used the scraps left after making my t-shirt quilt to make crotchet a rag rug. I cut the scrapes into long stripes, similar to a thick yarn, and was able to use this t-shirt yarn to crotchet a rug. I had tried to use the traditional toothbrush technique, but decided to crotchet it instead, since I am for efficient at crocheting.

T-shirt Rag Rug

I also had a large number of smaller scraps of t-shirt fabric that I hadn’t found a purpose for yet. I had been in the process of making a latch hook rug from scrapes of yarn left over from crocheting and knitting projects. I had seen pictures of latch hook rugs from ribbons and t-shirts and decided to try it out! It will be a little harder to wash, but since it is made of durable t-shirt fabric (that I seem to have a never ending supply of) it should be easier to clean compared to a traditional rag rug.
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T-shirt Latch Hook Rug in Progress |
Pillows
One of the many t-shirts I had obtained over the year was an M&M from one of my sister’s themed baby shower. She has collected M&M items for years. After the shower I held on to the t-shirt for a while but never wore it. When her son came and the nursery was M&M themed, I had a wonderful idea of turning the t-shirt into a large pillow, perfect for a little boy’s bedroom! Thankfully I had some stuffing left over from a previous project, so a little bit of sewing, and a lot of stuffing, resulted in a pillow, perfect for an M&M themed room!
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M&M Pillow |
Cat Bed
I do workshops with youth periodically. One of the workshops I had done was showing how to weave a rag rug using a hula hoop. The youth had a fun time cutting up old t-shirts and weaving them into a rug. After we took the rugs off of the hoops, one of the rugs ended up being more of a basket. When they took the rug/basket home, their cat quickly adopted it for their new bed! Perfect, especially since they could easily wash the cat be if they needed to!
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Rug turned Cat Bed |
New Shirt
My sister gave me a volunteer t-shirt for the local county fair. I volunteer to help her when I can and she asks that I wear one of the fair shirts. Normally I would be on board, but sometimes it can be very hot and humid, so a t-shirt is not the first thing I want to wear. So instead of just wearing a regular t-shirt, I made a few adjustments and made it into more of a tank top! She loved what I did and asked me to alter some of her shirts so she could wear them during the fair also, especially when it is really hot in the middle of July!
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Tank Top |
These are just a few of the many ways you can re-purpose t-shirts. What are some of your favorites?
Thank you to Kjrsten from Demeter's Charisma for sharing her wonderful examples of how how we can re-purpose our old t-shirts.
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