I love the idea of quick and easy tshirt projects. I have a lot of tshirts, tshirts are cheap, and they’re easy to find anywhere, especially thrift stores.
Many of these projects literally take less than 1/2 hour and you’re creating a great accessory or compliment to your wardrobe. Here are 10 of my favorites
The Sara Vest or the 5-minute T-shirt vest from Wobisobi. These are so cute, so easy, literally you need a tshirt and a pair of scissors. This is a great compliment to another tshirt that needs a little something extra. You can embellish with paint, sparklies, buttons, ribbons, bows, ruffles or anyting else your imgaination can come up with.
Image from Wobisobi
You never have enough bags – and this 10-minute no-sew recycled t-shirt bag from Leethal is awesome. It’s a great way to use fun t shirts that dont fit anymore, or never did. This are great for grocery bags, lunch bags or anything else you might need them for.
Image from Leethal.net
I have super short hair, but I love headbands. I DON’T love that the store wants me to pay $14 to $20 for a fancier headband. This tutorial from A Law Student’s Journey is great. The braided t-shirt headband is a great way to up-cycle a ripped t shirt that just cant be a shirt anymore.
Image from Three Years Of Death
I love scarves in theory – most of the time when I wear one I look like I’m trying to strangle myself. This tutorial is for a FRILLY t-shirt scarf from The Pink Peony of Le Jardin. I fell in love with it and I haven’t even made it yet!
Image from The Pink Peony of Le Jardin
I love t-shirt flowers – I made some awhile back and loved them. This tutorial is for t-shirt roses from CathieFilian.com and is also no-sew and made from t-shirt scraps. This project does use hot glue – you can maybe use tacky glue and get the same results.
Image from Cathie Fillian
I’m not sure the intent for this t-shirt reconstruction by Wilma was to make a maternity shirt, but she totally made something that would be VERY cute when framing a cute little pregger belly.
Image from ByWilma.com
As much as I try to deny it, fringe is in. This cute no-sew beach tote with awesome fringes is from Tiny Sparkly Things and uses a cute print t shirt to make a great beach-bag. Dont live near the beach? This one is also great for trip to the gym or farmer’s market.
Image From Tiny Sparkly Things
Another headband – this one is wider, but still super cute and REALLY simple. These headbands take about 2-minutes – no lie – and don’t require any sewing, but they do require heat tape or peel & stick tape. I’m not sure with the use of tape if they’d be washable, read your labels. You could also do the gather with a button and a piece of yarn, or one of the really cute t shirt roses I mentioned above.
Image from I Am Momma Hear Me Roar
Ladies, we all have those t shirts that just dont fit – they’re not fitted, really big, and make you look like you weigh about 15lbs more than you actually do. This tutorial shows you how to turn a large, boxy t-shirt into a fitted tshirt without sewing a stitch. I love this one because it doesn’t have really noticeable knots down the side. The maker does note that it would take less time to sew this, but it’s a great option for those without machines and room to store them.
Image from Connect The Dotsons
Let me begin this one by saying you should look at everything on Refashionista.net’s website. It’s amazing. This conversion is no-sew no-cut. You basically tie the shirt around you and make it into a long t-shirt or a mini-dress. I think this would be impossible if you’re over a size 4, but it’s a cute idea for a teen or junior or someone really thin. You also don’t ruin the t-shirt, so it might be a cute way to wear your boyfriend’s team shirt without looking like you’re wearing a garbage bag. I think you might stretch out the neck, so if he wants the shirt back…you might want to wear the garbage bag to avoid an argument :).
Image from Refashionista.net
So there you go – 10 great ideas for upcycling your old, too big, too small, weird logo or thrift store t shirts. Have some other favorites? Share them in the comments below!
