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Upcycle your old stained t shirts into necklaces

For the first time, I am holding an upcycling workshop #eek. The challenge is to come up with a project anyone, whatever their skill level, can have a go at, within half an hour. I am inspired by the idea of this upcycled t-shirt necklace from a friend. I have modified the design to fit around the t-shirts I could release from my husband’s wardrobe without him noticing!

 Learn how to upcycle a T Shirt into a necklace. This DIY project is a fun make for any age, learn how to make t shirt yarn. #recycletshirt #tshirtyarnproject #recycle #recycledproject #recycling #crafts #diy #doityourself #upcycle

DIY T Shirt Necklace

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RECOMMENDED SUPPLIES:
  • Three T-Shirts
  • Scissors
  • Old bead necklace
  • Acrylic paint (optional, dependant upon the beads)
  • Fabric glue (I use E6000 due to its strength and speed of drying)

t-shirt-necklace-supplies

Cut off the hem of the t-shirts. Then cut across creating 1″ strips, along the bottom of the t-shirt.

create-t-shirt-trips-an-1-wide

Pull these strips between your hands to make your t-shirt yarn curl in on itself. You can follow ky ho to on my youtube video T-shirt Yarn Necklaces.

Place your strips into a circular shape at the required length for your necklace. You may wish them to be all slightly different lengths.

Add your bead necklace (you can see that I have roughly painted what was a bright wooden bead necklace red with acrylic).

lay-out-strips-in-necklace-format

Using further t-shirt yarn bind along the joins, wrapping tightly round.

bind-the-necklace-together

Secure the ends with glue, you may wish to hold in place with pins until the glue has dried.

transform-stained-old-t-shirts-into-bright-fun-necklaces-recycled-t-shirt-necklace-tutorial-on-the-blog

One fun necklace ready to add a bit of cheer to any outfit:) There are so many ways to recycle or refashion t-shirts, check out my Pinterest board here for further inspiration.

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Try this fun statement gold leaf necklace.

Don’t throw your old T shirts away, upcycle them and give them a new life! Check out my upcycled heart pillow, a reverse applique T shirt scarf or how about a step by step DIY macrame plant hanger.

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Cathy

Sunday 2nd of December 2018

How do you make them different lengths?

Vicky

Sunday 2nd of December 2018

the t shirts I have used are large, so I trimmed some a little shorter to create a variety of lengths.

Juleen

Friday 1st of September 2017

Can you please explain this: "Plus these strips between your hands to make your t shirt yarn curl in on itself." Also, the strips are cut to create a straight piece, right? Sorry, I guess I just need a little more detail.

Brenda Bowlef

Sunday 7th of May 2017

Oh just came across this while looking at facebook,!! Thank you for mentioning me.Vicky. The idea originally came from South Africa. I bought the necklace from a lady who had been to South Africa on holiday & had brought back necklaces to sell in the UK.

Anne @ Domesblissity

Wednesday 23rd of November 2016

Hi Vicky! How are you? I love this and I also loved all of your ideas in the #12DaysofChristmasDIY Challenges. You and Jill are so creative. Thank you so much for linking up to the Thriving on Thursdays linky party last week. It was lovely to see you post pop up. I'm featuring it at tomorrow's party.

Anne @ Domesblissity xx

Vicky

Saturday 26th of November 2016

Thanks for your kind comments Anne:) Thriving on Thursdays is a great link up, always lots of inspiring recipes to try out:)

Angie

Tuesday 22nd of November 2016

Lovely to meet you last night at the Refashion event and to try my hand at making a necklace. Looking forward to cutting up lots of my tee shirts now and making more necklaces. What an enjoyable evening we had

Vicky

Tuesday 22nd of November 2016

It was so lovely, such a nice atmosphere:) Thanks for coming:)

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