How to Make T-Shirt Yarn for Knitting, Crochet, and Weaving

T-shirt yarn (aka jersey yarn) has become a popular choice for crocheting or knitting handbags and home dec projects. The material is perfect for sturdy projects that need strength to hold up to wear and tear. And sure, you can easily buy T-shirt yarn. But making your own T-shirt yarn is easy and thrifty.

Read on to see how it’s done.

What You’ll Need to Make T-Shirt Yarn

Here’s everything I used to make my T-shirt yarn.

✓

Of course, you’ll need one or more T-shirts, in one or more colors. Start with your family’s cast-offs. See what you can find at your local thrift store. Bigger shirts will obviously yield more yarn. Avoid shirts with screen-printed or iron-on graphics. For best results, choose shirts without side seams. The side seams will create lumps in your yarn. This isn’t the end of the world, but why not avoid lumps if you can? I found a men’s size 2XL seamless T-shirt to use for this project.

✓

While you can absolutely make your yarn using nothing more than a sharp pair of scissors, a rotary cutter gets the job done fast.

✓

If you’re using a rotary cutter, you’ll need a self-healing cutting mat to avoid damaging your tabletop.

✓

A clear acrylic ruler guides your rotary cutter and helps keep the width of your T-shirt yarn consistent.

✓

You’ll need some sort of erasable fabric marking tool. I used a tailor’s chalk pencil.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making T-Shirt Yarn

1

Begin by cutting the shirt from underarm to underarm, then cut off the hem of the shirt (Photo 1). You’ll only be using the seamless body, so the top of the shirt can go into your rag bag.

2

Use your chalk marker and ruler to mark a line 1″ away from the fold along one side of the shirt body (Photo 2). Your cuts will be made from the opposite fold of the shirt up to this line.

3

Begin cutting your shirt into connected strips. Using your ruler and rotary cutter (or a pair of sharp scissors), make a series of cuts from the far folded edge of the shirt to your marked line. My cuts are about 1″ apart (Photo 3). Closer cuts will make thinner yarn, but you’ll risk having yarn that falls apart if your strips are less than 1/2″ wide. Wider strips will make thicker yarn.

You do not need to be terribly precise here—if your cuts are not perfectly straight, or if you cut a bit over your marked line, it’s all good.

4

Keep cutting until you read the other side of your shirt (Photo 4). You’ll end up with a series of loops connected with a solid section at the top (Hula skirt? Part of a drive-through car wash?)

5

Open out the loops as well as you can so the connected section lies flat on your table. We’re going to cut through that section so that your shirt becomes one continuous strip of fabric. Make your first cut on a diagonal from the edge of the fabric to the top of the last slit you cut (Photo 5).

6

Continue cutting through the connected section on a diagonal, from the end of one slit to the end of the next slit on the other side (Photo 6). When you get to the end, make your last cut on the diagonal from the end of the last slit to the edge of the fabric.

7

You’ll end up with a continuous strip of T-shirt fabric (Photo 7).

8

The final step is to transform the fabric into yarn. Simply grasp a section of your strip between your hands and stretch it lengthwise. The sides of the strip will curl inward, and you’ll have yarn (Photo 8). It will also stay stretched, so the yardage of your finished yarn will be more than that of your freshly cut strip!

Wind your yarn into a ball, and you’re good to go!

Wind your new yarn into a ball, and you’re ready to knit or crochet.

Video: Making Your Own T-Shirt Yarn

There’s a fun video in our Interweave Yarn Hacks series about making T-shirt Yarn. Hannah follows basically the same process, except she folds the T-shirt in half before cutting strips. This can be helpful if you’re using scissors rather than a rotary cutter.

How Much Yarn Does It Make?

My T-shirt provided enough yarn to make this handy little basket.

My men’s size 2XL T-shirt provided enough yarn to crochet this little basket, about 4″ tall and 4″ diameter. I used a size N-15 (10mm) crochet hook. Sorry, there is no pattern for this—I simply improvised. But you’ll find some patterns perfect for T-shirt yarn below.

Have you made T-shirt yarn? What are some of your favorite projects for this kind of yarn? Let us know in the comments!

Sandi Rosner is the technical content editor for all things yarn at Interweave. When she isn’t knitting, she usually has her nose in a book. You’ll find new technical content from Sandi nearly every week at www.interweave.com.

Note: This article contains affiliate links to products independently chosen by our editors. If you choose to purchase through our links, we may receive a small commission. Thank you!

Projects for T-Shirt Yarn