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Earth Day Craft-- T-Shirt Weaving
Published 04.16.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (22)
by Ellen Luckett Baker
Earth Day is April 22, so help your kids celebrate with an upcycled weaving project using old t-shirts. My six-year-old was fascinated to watch me cut up clothing (not for the first time) and we thought of many more uses for these cast-off shirts. I'm certain that you have some old t-shirts lying around the house, but if you get them at the thrift store, look for extra large shirts with no seams on the sides to make the longest strips. We used string for the base (called warp strings) because I found it easier for little hands to work with, but you could also use more t-shirt strips, creating a denser weave and a fully recycled project. And if you don't have a loom, don't go buy one -- you can use a cardboard box by following the instructions here.
You can make all kinds of things with your weaving. I sewed this one into a little pillow filled with rice and essential oils to be warmed in the microwave for soothing tired eyes. I'm thinking this will make a nice Mother's Day gift. You can turn your weaving into a dollhouse rug, wall hanging, hot pad, or any number of things. With a little sewing, you can make a fragrant sachet or a pouch to hold eyeglasses, cell phone or camera.
Supplies:
-peg loom
-old t-shirts
-string (optional)
-masking tape
All done! You can tuck in the knots on the sides to make your weaving look neater, but since we were sewing ours, we didn't bother with this step. I'm going to make some of these on my own to use as dishcloths.
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About this column
This is a year-round Holiday column. Kids love Holidays. As parents we have come to appreciate how Holidays seem to help structure our lives. Plus, any excuse to have fun sounds good to us!
We'll admit it, now that we're parents, we secretly look for Holidays to celebrate and between National, Secular, Unofficial and Bizarre Holidays, we think there are enough days out there to keep us inspired every week.
This column will be a place where you can get inspiration for how to enjoy time with your kids. Crafting projects and ideas will be posted on Thursdays by our brilliant contributors (see below). Other fun ideas will be posted here throughout the week as the inspiration hits us!
About our Craft Contributors
Ellen Luckett Baker is the author of the long thread, a blog about handmade goods. She has always enjoyed making things, but the flexibility of staying at home with her two daughters along with the creative inspiration they provide has led her to craft on a daily basis. Combining her love of graphic design and sewing, she has created an Etsy shop selling machine embroidery designs and sewing patterns.
Ellen lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young daughters. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a Master's of Public Administration with a focus in Non-Profit Management.
Cindy Hopper was fortunate to be raised in a family who appreciated the arts. This background led to a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. With a keen eye for design and color, Cindy has continued her love of art and is now passing her creative skills on to her three children. Cindy's family and friends are the beneficiaries of her passion for fun and meaningful creative projects. Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.
Brenda Ponnay is a stealthy secret agent who juggles parenthood to her adorable daughter by day and freelance graphic design by night. Whether it's painting, baking, drawing, making castles out of card board boxes or just doing the laundry with flair, Brenda Ponnay has finally discovered (at the ripe old age of thirty-six) that what really makes her happy is being creative every single day.
Brenda lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, three cats and thirty-seven pet birds. You can read about all her crazy adventures on her personal blog: Secret Agent Josephine.
Disclaimer
This column is only for entertainment purposes. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.
Comments (22):
laura said:
What a great idea! Love the pillow.
Posted on April 16, 2009 10:24
bernadette Noll said:
I love this project! And your photos are a perfect accompaniment. THanks for the inspiration. We may try this in our Future Craft Collective classes next week.
Posted on April 16, 2009 12:41
zakka life said:
Love the idea of using t-shirts for weaving. Reminds me of my red pot holder loom from childhood, ah.. memories.
Posted on April 16, 2009 13:19
Rebecca said:
That pillow is definitely fabulous - neat idea!
Posted on April 16, 2009 14:20
Libby said:
What a lovely idea. I'm doing a redo-a-tee booth at an Earth Day Fair and this fits right in!
thank you...
Posted on April 16, 2009 15:43
SkylarKD said:
Great idea! I'll be looking for some brightly coloured T-shirts the next time I visit the Salvation Army store. And thanks for the cardboard box instructions for those of us who are loom-less! :)
By the way, I’ve posted an Earth Day Challenge on my blog, so if anyone is interested in joining, come on over and post your plans for celebrating Earth Day with your family! I have a toddler, but all ages are welcome!
http://paintingpinkpajamas.blogspot.com/2009/04/celebrating-earth-day-with-toddler.html
Posted on April 16, 2009 20:24
oki said:
Ooooh... I remember... I don't even know. I remember strips of stuff. Long ago. *looks into the distance*
I want to touch that pillow thing.
Posted on April 16, 2009 22:19
Jenet said:
What a Grand Idea! I always say Recoup, Recycle, Reuse.
Reminds me of my summer camp days.
Posted on April 17, 2009 11:31
ginger said:
What a wonderful idea for kids to do .love this idea making the pillows.
hugs ginger
Posted on April 17, 2009 16:33
iris mishly said:
amazing! i think i will make a laptop case out of this!
Posted on April 18, 2009 03:07
Debbie said:
OOOOOOO If I make it a little bigger this will make great, durable rugs for the dogs at the local animal shelter! THANK YOU!
Posted on April 18, 2009 09:56
Kimara said:
Awesome recycling project. This will even hide the yucky stains that most t-shirts seem to acquire. Thanks!
Posted on April 18, 2009 13:00
Onna@toddlercraft said:
what a great idea!! I love all these earth day crafts!! I have been highlighting ones I have done at my blog this week and it's been really fun!! I will have to add this to my projects to try!
Onna
Posted on April 22, 2009 16:07
Clair said:
Such a cool and unique idea. Great tutorial and pictures as well. Thanks so much for sharing!
Posted on April 23, 2009 17:42
joy said:
Stumbled Upon this page, that's a very nice idea. I want to test that pillow. =)
Posted on June 23, 2009 10:07
resalikescolors said:
I've been really into weaving recycled materials lately. this looks great! I've been weaving hand spun junk mail myself :)
Posted on July 7, 2009 13:03
Heather said:
What a fun idea. Love it!
Posted on August 3, 2009 19:23
Norma Westmoreland said:
I love your ideas and would like to make this weaving project with my 6 year old grand daughter. However, I don't want to print out the entire page with all the contents. Can you just have a place where you click on print and we just get the instructions?
Posted on October 23, 2009 14:31
eleonor said:
very good idea and very nice tutorial!
Thanks for sharing!
Posted on October 26, 2009 12:27
michelle said:
just stumbled upon this blog today-- so happy i found it! I can't wait to try this!! I knew there was a good reason I've been hoarding all those old t-shirts!
Posted on November 1, 2009 11:43
pink and green mama MaryLea said:
Such a great idea! I used to make giant whole-class weavings on a big loom in my art classroom with all of the second grade classes every year. We would turn them into giant rag rugs. I think my daughters would really enjoy this and I love the dish towel idea!
So glad I found your blog : )
fondly,
pink and green mama
marylea
Posted on December 21, 2009 21:11
Emma said:
I love this! I taught a group of 5 year olds how to weave recently but as I'm totally new to weaving myself, I struggled to make it imaginative. Thanks for the inspiration!
Posted on March 1, 2010 23:31