Recycle an Old T-Shirt into a Beautiful Infinity Scarf!

Infinity Scarf Tutorial

I think it was on a BuzzFeed post that I first saw a photo of a T-Shirt Scarf, and I was immediately inspired.  Who doesn't have a ton of old T-shirts laying around, just awaiting re-purposing as something other than rags!  I hit google, looking for further inspiration and immediately found examples posted by other creative people.  None of those seemed exactly what I wanted though.  So, me being me, I took what I liked from each, put my own spin on them, and came up with my own potential design.  Then I grabbed a pair of scissors and an old shirt, and I started cutting.  After about the 3rd shirt, I had a process down.  Now, with about a dozen prototypes under my belt, I feel comfortable sharing my methods.

Supplies:

To complete this project, as shown, you'll need the following:

• An old, colored T-Shirt, the bigger the better.
   
  For an adult, you'll really want to use a Large, XL, or even larger, up to 3XL.   White-based T-shirts will work for the basic scarf, but not so well for the bleach-dying that follows. 
  
  Don't worry if there is a design on the shirt (it'll blend in), or even small holes (you can work around these when you cut.)
• A decent pair of scissors.
  
  I'd love to experiment with throwing pinking shears into the mix, but I don't own any.  If you do, feel free to use them.
• A couple of cups of good old-fashioned Bleach
• A couple cups of White Vinegar
   Optionally, also have a spray bottle of white vinegar handy
  
• Rubber Bands
•  A couple of buckets, bowls, and/or deep bins
• A basin or bucket full of Cold Water

Process:

 I suggest that BEFORE you attempt this with a full shirt, first cut off a sleeve,  and follow all of the steps using the sleeve as practice. You'll end up with a doll or cat-sized scarf  at the end.  Then, you can try it with the rest of the shirt, and you'll have a better feel for what you're doing.

Make the Scarf

 Lay the shirt out like a "t", so the collar is at the top & the hem is at the bottom. From now on, I'm going to call the top part side "F", and the bottom (hem) part side H. Remember that as I continue.

Cut the shirt across at the armpits, basically cutting off the sleeves to the collar. (It's a HORIZONTAL cut if you have the shirt looking like a T.)  What you'll be left with is a big tube and a little dickey. If there is any design left, do not worry. Cut off the hem (horizontally) as well and save for later use.

 

Cut fringe to desired length along side F. What's left of the design will disappear into the fringe.  (As you can see by the picture, I cheat a little and fold the shirt while I cut the fringe.  I suggest you NOT try this until you have at least one scarf under your belt.)

Next, turn the tube so the folds are at the top & bottom. Side F will now be on the left/West of the tube, and side H will be toward the East/Right.  (In the above photo, what is left of the design is on side F of the tube.)

Fold up the bottom fold so that it's about 1/2 -  3/4" from the top fold. You'll be making VERTICAL cuts from the bottom (South) fold, just up to the top (North) fold. You want to stop so that the loops are still attached by that solid, North/top strip.

For orientation purposes, I've run the piece of hem through the tube where you will need to run it through later.  You'll want to leave a width just a little wider than your hem piece. The clothespin represents the top fold, as it's hard to see in the photo, or the distance I'll be cutting to.

You'll want the western most cut to be about the same width away from the fringe as the length of the fringe. The easternmost loop/strip should be at least an inch wide, probably slightly more. The loops in between should be about 1/2 - 3/4  inch wide. I start at the fringe/left side, and start cutting loops/strips from left to right.

I like to vary the widths of the strips and cut them kind of wavy.

When you've gone all the way across, you'll have long loops attached by a solid strip at the top.  I've unfolded the loops on the right side of the above photo.

BEFORE threading the hem piece through the top, trim the solid piece to the length of the fringe for smoother knotting/hanging later.  I did some "clean-up" detail refining after taking the above photo, but it gives you the idea.  (I discovered this around the 3rd or 4th scarf.  It's not crucial.  It just makes the next step a little easier.)

When the loops/strips are all cut, thread that hem piece you saved through the top part, where you didn't cut the loops all the way through. Gather it up, so the string runs along the North, and the loops hang south. Make sure the hem piece is through all the loops. Tie a larks head knot.

DO NOT pull it tight until you make sure you threaded the piece right, through ALL the loops.  It often takes a 2nd try to get it right, even with a dozen or so scarves under my belt.  I had to do it a 2nd time making THIS particular scarf.

If the hem is still a solid loop, cut it so it has 2 strings.Then tie a regular knot. Wrap the tails around in opposite directions to cover ugly loop, and to make it look smoother, then tie another knot. Tie this one tight.  It's going to hold the whole shebang together.

I like to twist the tails into a decorative rosette, then knot that for a total no-sew project. If you wanted, you could wrap a scrap of leftover shirt around the knot, and then stitch it tight.

To make the rosette, first twist each piece of tail into a thin rope, then twist the two twists around each other to form one rope.  Coil it like you were forming a hair bun.  To secure, break remaining tail back into two twists.  Wrap each twist in opposite directions around rosette and knot to secure.

Cut the tails into "leaf" shapes, and you're done with your knot.  Last step is to pull out the loops/stretch them. Next, hold your finished infinity scarf by the knot and shake out.  Grab opposite end with other hand (or place on toes) and STRETCH.  (Sorry, I couldn't take a photo of this step.)  Do the same with the fringe, and optionally knot every other piece of fringe and/or bead. Shake out again, and you're done!

Optional: Bleach Dye the scarf

Sorry...no photos for this part.  We're basically going to tie-dye the scarves, but instead of adding color with dye, we'll be  removing color with bleach.   You'll want to use regular, old cheap bleach for this, and NOT any of those fancier color-safe types.  The white vinegar will stop the effects of the bleach.  This is important to remember during this process.

Also, remember it's easier to re-dip a scarf than to try to put the color back into it.  Use a slight hand with the bleach and a generous hand with the vinegar until you get the hang of this.  You can practice using leftover T-shirt pieces, or you can use scraps as test strips before you dip a scarf, if you wish.  I like the surprise element of this process myself.

To prepare your piece for dying, grasp the knot in one hand, and the opposite end of the loops in the other.  Twist the entire  length of the scarf.  Twist up the twisted scarf, knot it loosely, and otherwise ensure there are lots of areas "protected" by folds.  Secure in random places with rubber bands and/or use rubber bands to form patterns in the cloth.

Pour some bleach in a bucket, deep bowl, or bin, and pour vinegar to a similar level in another container.

Optionally spray small areas of your prepped scarf with vinegar before dipping the scarf into the bleach.  For a more ombre effect, dip each end in the bleach, but leave the middle un-dipped.  Immediately follow the bleach-dip with a vinegar bath.  Follow the vinegar bath with a soak in cold water.

If I'm doing a batch of these, I'll often let the washing machine fill while I'm dying, and I throw each scarf right into the machine after a quick rinse in the cold water.  I add a  half cup or so of vinegar to the water to ensure the bleach/dye process is completely set.  I also add some purex crystals or downy unstoppables to help get rid of the bleach smell.  I run them through the gentle cycle still banded, then into the dryer.  Once I remove the rubber bands, I throw them over a towel rack to let them finish drying.  (If they're still all balled up, they won't completely dry in the dryer.)  Alternatively, I hand wash them, again hanging them on a towel rack or drying rack to dry.

Caring for your Infinity Scarf

I provide the following care instructions with the scarves:

This "Infinity Scarf" is hand-made from a recycled t-shirt.  Each scarf is truly a one-of-a-kind item.

To care for your scarf, throw it in a mesh lingerie bag and toss it in the washer along with your other t-shirts.  Keep it in the mesh bag when you throw it in the dryer.  When you take it out, hold it by the knot and shake it.  Hang, if necessary, until completely dry.  You may need to gently stretch the loops after removing your scarf from the dryer,  Alternatively, you may hand wash it and fold it over a towel rack to dry. 

Hold your scarf by the knot and shake it out before each use.  You may loop it over your head more than once. Tug loops gently to adjust.  The knot can be worn behind the neck or draped decoratively to the side.  We suggest you loop the scarf over the neck of a hanger, with the knot at the top, or fold gently into a drawer/shelf to store.

Each scarf is hand-made by Laurel Nevans.

Wearing your scarf

You can wear your scarf with the knot in the back, or if you have neck issues like I do, with the knot on the side. (That's why you want to finish that part off nicely.)The larger the shirt you start with, the longer and wider your scarf will be.  The loops will start to curl up after going through the dryer for the first time; this is what you want to happen, and is part of the look. 

Gallery of In Process Scarves:

Here are some of the scarves I made, hanging on the laundry room towel rack to dry.  You can see the one white shirt hanging amongst the colored ones.  In the top photos, all the shirts (but the red one) started out black.  I thought the bleach hadn't "worked" on the charcoal one, as that looked solid black until it dried.  The green shirt in the middle photo has a subtle pattern that is not visible in the photo.  It's shorter as it was made with a size Medium shirt.  The shirts in the bottom photo started out black, red, navy, or teal.

I'll try to remember to keep adding pictures as I get more scarves made!  If you try this out, please share photos of your efforts!

Ideas for What to Do with your Scarves

I am making these for all of the women on my holiday gift list.  They make great gifts for teachers, mail ladies, your favorite server or bartender, your neighbor, etc.  If you have teen-aged children, they could recycle old school shirts into hand-made teacher gifts.  You really don't even need to be able to cut a straight line to make one of these!

EDIT: December 11, 2012

I've added a Gallery Page with some of the scarves I've done.  I'll be adding pictures as I complete scarves, so be sure to check back.  Send me pictures of your completed T-Shirt scarves, and I'll post them in the gallery!

The gallery is here.

Comments:

Please feel free to share your experiences making these scarves in the comments.  I'd love to hear any feedback readers have on the whole process as well!