How to make knitted yarn from a T-shirt?

Making new products from unwanted old clothes is considered quite a profitable activity. A material such as knitted yarn is perfect for this purpose. You can make such yarn yourself. This will require some free time and a few unnecessary jersey T-shirts.

How to easily make knitted yarn from a T-shirt, step by step?

The best choice for creating such threads for knitting from knitted fabric would be a plain T-shirt, quite soft in texture.

However, it should not be too old and worn out. The fabric must necessarily correspond to the original characteristics: be elastic and strong enough, then it is easy to create yarn from it with your own hands.

Advice! It is recommended to use for these purposes a part of the product that does not have seams or excess seals. T-shirts with raised inserts and voluminous embroidery are not a suitable option.

It is recommended to wash and iron the selected T-shirt. Since only the smooth part of the T-shirt will be used, it must be properly prepared. You need to cut off the bottom edge of the T-shirt. It is also necessary to separate its upper part (along a line drawn between the sleeves, from one armpit to the other). The result is a voluminous “pipe” with two side seams.

Now you can proceed directly to making yarn:

• One side part of the pipe must be placed on the second, retreating 2-3 cm from the top. It is required that the bottom edge protrude above the top. This will help you get quality yarn.
• Then the material should be folded in half again, maintaining 2-3 cm of the original indentation.
• Then you need to determine what density and thickness the knitted thread should be. It should be taken into account that the width of the finished strips after rolling into tubes will decrease by almost 2 times. Therefore, it is advisable to calculate the width with a certain margin. Experienced craftswomen recommend a width of 2.5 cm as the optimal option. For more accurate measurements, use a ruler.
• Using sharp scissors, you need to start cutting the material into strips of the required width. Only fabric folded in several layers should be cut. You don't need to do anything with the top margin yet.
• It is necessary to make neat cuts along the entire length of the folded T-shirt, without touching the protruding edge.
• After this, you should unwrap the package and look at the result. The part not touched by scissors was necessary to ensure that the yarn was continuous. Otherwise the stripes would be too short.
• The resulting knitted “tube” must be pulled over your hand or onto another suitable base (for example, onto a three-liter jar) so that not only the untouched part is visible, but also the bases of the cuts on its sides. If all the cuts are clearly visible, this will greatly simplify further work.
• Then you need to cut the indentation diagonally. You need to cut along the lines from the first row of already cut parts to the second (located opposite), then from the second to the third and then according to the same principle. Thanks to the use of this technique, the finished knitwear threads will be continuous. When cutting simple identical strips, they would have to be subsequently connected to each other by tying or sewing the ends, which is very inconvenient and time-consuming.
• The yarn obtained after completing the diagonal cuts must be unrolled and slightly pulled lengthwise. The result will be elongated threads twisted on the sides. The edges of the fabric will be hidden inside.

Knitted yarn is ready. For convenience during future use, it is recommended to roll it into a ball. Thanks to its excellent density and width, working with such a thread will be very convenient.

Advice! To make such yarn, it is recommended to use large sizes. This will greatly simplify the process. It is not very convenient to cut such yarn from T-shirts of small sizes (for example, from children's ones), and the threads end up being too short for comfortable knitting.

What can be made from such yarn?

An unbreakable, seamless thread, which can easily be made from old T-shirts, is often used by needlewomen to decorate various objects and to make some things.

Eg, made from knitted yarn:

• hair bands;
• toys;
• bags of different shapes and sizes (including large beach ones);
• baskets (for linen, toys and various small items);
• potholders and hot mats;
• rugs;
• covers;
• slippers;
• beautiful knitted flowers.

Advice! For making various products from this type of yarn, not only a hook, but also knitting needles No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10 are quite suitable.

Making your own knitting threads for knitting from old T-shirts is a rather routine process, but quite simple. In addition, this is a great way to give new life to unnecessary things that have lost all appearance.