“What in the world can I do with all of these old t-shirts?” — A thought I have had recently as I’ve been clearing out boxes and boxes of old clothes. I wanted to recycle them somehow because they weren’t all suitable for charity and I’m sentimental about clothing sometimes which makes it hard to just throw them out! A braided rug seemed like an awesome idea and one that could actually give new life to the worn out old shirts.
I took on this project over the weekend, and while it does take a long time, I’m so happy with the result! I decided to grab a bunch of blue-toned shirts and some neutrals so my rug had some sort of a colour scheme. You can totally just make an eclectic version with every colour of the rainbow too, so don’t worry about your shirts all matching.
I used a total of fifteen different sized t-shirts (both mine and Dustin’s) for a rug approximately 30″ in size. If you want to make one too, here is how to do it:
You will need:
- A variety of jersey t-shirts and/or tank tops
- Scissors
- Rotary cutter (optional)
Step 1 – Cut your t-shirts into 1.5″ strips along the width of the body. This goes much quicker if you have a rotary cutter. You’ll want to cut the end of each of them so they’re strands and not loops of fabric.
Step 2 – Gather three strips and stack them. Tie a knot tightly into the top to begin.
Step 3 – Start braiding the strips.
Step 4 – Once you’ve braided about 4″ of the strips, coil the braid into a circle as shown above, with the knot in the center.
Step 5 – Take the strand closest to the center and pass it under and through one of the loops in the braid you coiled. This is how you will attach the braid to the coil.
Step 6 – Continue your braid another few inches. It should be attached to the center coil where you passed the one strand through.
Step 7 – Every few inches, pass the strand closest to the center under and through the existing braid to attach it. You’ll do this continuously to create the entire rug! Braid and attach, braid and attach.
When you reach the end of the strip, you’ll want to attach another. Instead of making a bunch of knots, here is how you can quickly attach the next strand:
Step 1 – Fold over the very end of the attached strand and cut a small slit into the center. Do the same with your new strand.
Step 2 – Line up the two slits you cut on both strands as shown in photo 2.
Step 3 – Take the other end of the new strand and pull it through the back of the slits towards the front.
Step 4 – Pull both strands tightly and they will be linked together.
The rug will tend to bunch up as you go along. To flatten it, spritz it with a spray water bottle and use your hands to push it back into shape. You can place some heavy objects on it to hold it down while you braid if you need to.
I wanted to finish the backing of the rug so it stays in place, so I plan on ironing on some fusible interfacing to the reverse side. You can also finish it with starch or Polycrylic spray as a protective measure.
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Original article and pictures take www.thewonderforest.com site
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