Happy 2011, friends! Hope everyone had a happy, safe, and FUN New Years. My roommate, her friend, and I parked ourselves on the couch and watched every Lifetime movie on demand Saturday, if that's telling you anything about my weekend. Eeep.
Regularly scheduled reality begins... NOW!
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If working at a store whose slogan is Do Something Creative Every Day isn't enough to get the gears going and force you to be creative, I don't know what is. I plan on honing into my creativeness more in 2011, maybe not every single day, but a heck of a lot more than before. I usually work on creative projects when I'm being paid for them and often forget to just do them for fun! I intend on changing that this year, starting with this fun little project!
I've been reading about t-shirt necklaces on craft sites for a while now. But it wasn't until I saw one of my coworkers at Paper Source wearing one that she created that really caught my attention. Seeing it in person made me quite intrigued. Especially when she told me in just a couple short minutes how easy it was to make. I'm all for a craft project of any caliber but hearing that something that pretty was so simple to make drew me in.
I've actually had a bag of clothes sitting in my front hallway for a good few weeks that I have to bring to donate, so I went through it and pulled out a few shirts that could work well. The t-shirt necklaces I've seen have all been one color, made from one t-shirt, so I knew I wanted to mix it up and "make it my own" by adding an additional pop of another color in. All you need for the project is however many t-shirts you'll be cutting and a pair of sharp scissors. No sewing or glue required, hooray! BEST CRAFT PROJECT EVER!!!!
I decided to pair the gray and the pink t-shirt together and the gold t-shirt with the thermal floral printed top, to make two individual necklaces.
What you want to do first is cut the bottom seam off all of the shirts. You won't be using this piece, so you can discard, or save for another project.
Then, work your way up to the armpits of the t-shirt, cutting in strips about ¾"-1". You could also use a cutting mat, ruler, and a rotary cutter to get a perfectly straight line, but I'm all for a little imperfection in projects like this. It adds character and no two will ever be the same.
Next, you want to stretch each piece out until it curls. It should curl almost perfectly after stretching a couple/few times. Feel free to do a little "stretching out the pieces of t-shirt dance", if you'd like! Woo, woo!
Once you have all of your strips cut out, line your seams up so they're all facing in the same direction.
Now, with all of your loops of t-shirt hanging, you're going to want to loop them into a crazy eight. (Basically the necklace will be ½ it's length after you crazy-eight them).
To "clasp" all of the strips together, you'll use a scrap piece of t-shirt, loop it to the back of the necklace, and wrap the remaining strand around.
I really like interesting clasps and backs to necklaces so I decided to take a few more scrap pieces of the t-shirt (2 pink pieces and 1 gray piece), and braid them together so the back of the necklace would look a bit more unique.
Once the braid is finished, wrap it around the back, and tuck the ends in. It's easy peasy.
Looooove it.
I also wanted to play around a bit with the thermal shirt I had. I cut a few strands of the thermal top and I immediately could tell it wasn't going to work the same way as the t-shirt material, it just wasn't stretching or curling the same way. Instead of scrapping the whole idea, I used the seamless gold t-shirt that I had and decided to braid 3 pieces (2 thermal and 1 gold strand) together and incorporate the braid into the gold necklace. I'm really digging this one, too. The braided piece really adds another layer of texture and visual interest. It's a bit summery, but I'm always one who enjoys wearing off-seasonal clothes so I just might wear this one asap... as a "scarf" 😉
So, in short, I'm officially obsessed with making t-shirt necklaces. Not only was it a blast to create but there isn't even any cleanup! No craft project is better than that. And as I was making these, I was thinking they'd make perfect gifts. Or for a girl's night, have your friends bring old t-shirts and you can make them together. The possibilities are completely endless and you can customize them so easily by using your favorite color, an old college shirt, or even your favorite sports team's t-shirt. Now that I think of it, I'll need to hack one of my green Celtics t-shirts so I can rock one of these necklaces at the next game 😉
I don't normally make resolutions but starting the year off making this necklace makes me realize I need more projects like this in my life!
[Chels]
sweeter salt says
Love t-shirt necklaces. I make something similar, only it involves a bit of sewing. I posted about it here: http://bit.ly/9Y6bkX
Fun!
Laura
Daisy says
very cool! My friend wore one of these that she made out last year, and I remember being very into the idea, but hadn't seen any since. thanks for the tutorial!
Kelly says
These are cute and I love it because you could easily make them out of some teeshirts that no longer fit or that you were going to throw out. Cute and green!
I'm actually really good at keeping new years resolutions. I usually have a tradition of sitting down and writing them down along with an action plan. I haven't done that yet. Maybe this weekend. One of my big resolutions is to get more organized. I already cheated a little and started on the kitchen in 2010.
Fun and Fearless in Beantown says
This is really cool! I alway love looking to your blog posts to inspire me to be a little more crafty in my life!
Erica says
That is so fun! I am like the least artistically talented person and I feel like I might be able to do this. Happy New Year!
Sharlene says
Such an interesting craft project! I've never seen anything like this before!
Elina (Healthy and Sane) says
I've never heard of tshirt necklaces (have i been living under a rock?!!) but yours came out gorgeous!!! I love how projects like that make me feel except i usually get too overwhelmed to start them. A vision board has been on my to-do list for like 2 years. I WILL make it this month! 🙂
Rachel @ The Avid Appetite says
This is too cute! I've never seen these before this, but now I'm dying to DIY one of my very own. That, along with glitter flats.
Simply Life says
oh that is so creative!
emily @ the happy home says
cute! also, it sounds like it's just the right heft for a cozy LA scarf.
Rose says
This post immediately caught my eye. How clever! Starring it * Adding it to the to-make list!
my little expat kitchen says
This is so creative! Great idea!
Joanne says
OMG these are so awesome! I have so many race t-shirts that are weird sizes and just unappealing. And now I have an awesome use for them! THanks chica!
Amanda L. (Tales From A Kitchen Misfit) says
So creative! I'll have to try that with some old t-shirts of mine!
rita says
looks like it will work as a winter accessory, as well.
Anne Marie says
I definitely just sat in my bedroom making these with any willing tshirt I could find! These are great. Just a little extra warmth around my neck when I don't want a full out scarf! Good luck crafting! I can't wait to see!
Barb S says
I absolutely love this!! I had just thrown out a horribly stained black long sleeve shirt earlier today...so I dug it out of the trash and made the cutest black t-shirt necklace! Thanks so much for this!!! I can't wait to wear it with a white t! I'm always cold.....
Cori says
Has anyone tried making t-shirt bracelets out of the sleeves? I'm thinking of using this as a rainy-day craft for my daughters. Hello, Christmas presents!
Kyrie says
I also use the same technique to make matching bracelets. They let me spice up my look without feeling heavy or chafing my wrist like metal bracelets can.
Violet says
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It if truth be
told was a leisure account it. Look complicated to far brought
agreeable from you! By the way, how can we keep in touch?