Recylcled T-Shirt Scarf

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For this project, you'll need two t-shirts.  I chose grey and green.  They can have holes in them...we can work around that!   (See my post from yesterday!)

Now, take one shirt and lay it out flat.  Use a bar of soap as tailors chalk and mark out a scarf shape. Start at the shoulder of the shirt, this is the mid-point, and the skinniest part of the scarf.  I just gently flared my shape from the shoulder, across the front of the shirt, and over to the opposite hip of the shirt.  You can see the dotted, dash lines on the shirt...that is the outline, and the normal skid type mark of the soap. Cut the t-shirt in your scarf shape through the two layers.  Then, pin this shape to the second shirt, and cut that one the same size.

 

On whichever side you want to be the front of the scarf, use a stencil to lay out a pattern.  Simple may be best for this first project.  I used the leaf pattern from my brand new Alabama Chanin Stitch Book.  If there are holes in your shirt, you'll need to properly position your stencil in order to make sure that the holey part of the shirt will be discarded.

One layer of the scarf should be stenciled.  For this project stencil each end.  Now, cut out the pattern. Clip the fabric in the center, then work your way around the edges of the stencilled line with your scissors. Then, lay your scarf on a cookie sheet and carefully use a QTip to go around the inner edges of the fabric with bleach. Let the bleach sit for awhile, and then quickly rinse it out in the sink under running cold water. Let it dry flat. The bleach makes for a great weathered look. You could use fabric dye, or even a sharpie if it co-ordinates better with your colors.

Then use embroidery floss to sew it all together. I thought the light pink looked great with the bleached out edges. Pin the two pieces of fabric together.  Start at your stenciled cut out.  I made sure to begin and end my floss at the bottom of each leaf.  This makes for a pretty back of the scarf.

   And just look at how cute this turned out!  The knit will not fray, so I just hand sewed leaving raw edges.  I like how they curl and show the color of the fabric on the reverse.

You can see the pretty back side of the scarf on the right.  I love the knots and chunky stitches.  I hope you make one, if you do, be sure to link back! 

This just may be a girls day out project.  Thank You, Alabama Chanin for the inspiration!