recycled t-shirt necklace

hey folks! my family has a rule this year for giving gifts at christmas--the gifts either have to be bought second-hand (resale shop, vintage store, thrift shop, garage sale, consignment shop, etc) or they have to be handmade. so fun, huh? the gifts to my fam from me are going to be a mix of both. i'm sharing with you today because i've completed my first handmade christmas gift! actually, i did last week, but i was too busy to complete a blog post about it. so here it is!

recycled t-shirt necklace

 

supplies:

two different colored, large or extra-large old t-shirts

scissors

(that's it!!)

directions:

1. cut hem off the bottom and discard. begin cutting the body of the shirt horizontally into strips approx 1/2 to 1 inch thick (no need to measure, being exact does not matter). cut all the way up until you reach the sleeves of the shirt (the strips will actually be loops). repeat with other shirt.

2. once cut, tug at the ends of each strip until the edges curl under. then cut through one end of the fabric so you have long strips instead of loops.

3. set aside a couple strips (we will be using them later) and start gathering strips in groups of three to braid. make sure to have both teal-teal-gray and gray-gray-teal (or whatever color you choose) to give your necklace dimension.

4. find something heavy to anchor one end of the strips while you are braiding, leaving a small amount of fabric at the top unbraided (this will be used to tie the two ends together). begin braiding (if you don't know how to braid, sorry, i'm not going to teach you here. there are probably you-tube videos for it).

5. when braid is complete, remove it from anchor and tie the two ends together. repeat steps 4 and 5 with every braid. (tip: each braid you make for the necklace should be varied in length)

6. when finished with all of the braids (i made 8 braids, all different lengths), trim off the excess fabric around the knots. gather all your braids together at the knots, and arrange how you like. spread the knots out a bit so it won't be too thick to cover up.

7. with a scrap, tie braids together so they don't move around while you are wrapping.

8. with the strips you set aside earlier, begin to wrap around the knots until they are completely covered up.

9. when finished wrapping, secure with a knot, cut off excess fabric, and tuck knot under.

YOU'RE DONE!

here's what it looks like (yep, that's me modeling my own product):

hope you like! now get to makin all your christmas gifts!