This beautiful scarf is a perfect holiday gift for anyone, whether you’re on a budget or not, and it can be made from any old t-shirt that you already own. Stick with stretch fabrics or cotton for the best results and colors can be as bright or neutral as you like!
1. Begin by cutting the shirt into looong strips. Too short and your scarf will look more like a choker. You want to end up with around 9 thicker strips, as the t-shirt will naturally curl into itself after cut.
2. Next, decide how much of the scarf you want braided and how much you want loose.
3. Start by tying one of the strips in a knot around the other pieces. This will collect all of the pieces together and make it easy to braid.
4. Begin braiding, including all 9 strips into one.
5. Once you’ve finished your braid, wrap another piece of the fabric around the others and knot it. Your braid should now be secured at both ends.
6. Decide what length you want your scarf to be and then secure the two ends together either by knotting or using a little hot glue. Make sure not to let the glue show, though! It’ll look sloppy.
If all else fails, you can purchase the scarf from ChocolateSushiHM at another one of my favorite websites, Etsy.com. Happy crafting!
Lizzy is a Merchandise Product Development major at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising L.A. She is highly influenced by J. Crew, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors and hopes to one day be designing and marketing fantastic fashions just like her icons.
Lizzy S. has 64 post(s) on RTR On Campus
14 comments
Holiday Shopping Tips « Advice « RTR On Campus says:
Dec 7, 2011
[...] things yourself! Everyone loves gifts from the heart. Check out these DIY Christmas Gifts in a Jar, t-shirt scarves and friendship bracelets to get your creative juices [...]
Kayla says:
Feb 22, 2012
SCARF IDEA
Tina says:
Jun 14, 2012
I made this in under 20m with some leftover loops I had from a rug project. It’s perfect for summer since it can just go in the wash after a day doing pretty much anything outside in Houston. Thanks for sharing!!
terri says:
Jun 30, 2012
Are you cutting the strips vertically or horizontally?
Beth says:
Jul 17, 2012
Hi! I love this idea! I have a question though. I was wondering when braiding the strips together if the strips were ever cut into one long piece each, or did they remain in a circle while being braided? I don’t know if that makes sense, but I would think if they were 9 circular strips, braiding them would be complicated, like they would get tangled up. So behind her neck in the picture that we can’t see, is the other end of the braid like the end that we can see, or was it cut and then knotted together? I am probably making this harder than it is…. LOL! SOrry!
Porcha says:
Sep 14, 2012
I love it but i can’t seem to make one right lol! You should sell them because i would totally buy one!
Shandory says:
Oct 9, 2012
I want to make this using an old cotton dress my daughter outgrew…fingers crossed. I will update you as soon as I make it. Thank you for the idea!!!
Kaylyn says:
Oct 17, 2012
what do you do with the sleeves?
kenda says:
Oct 19, 2012
do you cut up from bottom to neck line? or across left to right?
Cassandra says:
Nov 8, 2012
Hello! I was reading and like a few above me was curious as to how you cut the shirt. Did you use a razor blade? Did you use a paper bag to keep the shirt tight while cutting? Did you use the waist of the shirt for the scarf and discard the sleeves, or did you cut down long strips of the out of the back?? Let me know!
Cassandra
Colette says:
Nov 11, 2012
Just did this and it turned out pretty well! The only thing that’s tricky is attaching the braid piece and the strip piece. This may not make much sense but I stacked the two knots at the end on top of one another and taped them (kind of ghetto sorry) an then I wrapped a piece of fabric over the tape. A video tutorial for this would be really nice!
Jessy B says:
Nov 20, 2012
Can you show step by step pics?
Cricket says:
Nov 29, 2012
Awesome!! I just made one and with a little superglue it came out great. I do realize that next time I’ll use a shirt with no seems. The seems made it challenging. But I plan on adding a lot more then 9 long pieces. To give it a more fuller look. I’m also gonna experiment with different braids and fabrics.
Leto says:
Dec 2, 2012
I just made this and it’s really cute! I used a heavier t-shirt so it’s not quite as delicate as in the picture, but I love it. Some tips:
- I cut lengthwise and realized I should have cut along the width (I used a men’s XL shirt and had to use one side for the braid and one for the strips, and attach both).
- Like Colette, I stacked the ends. I then used a strip of fabric to knot them, and wound the strip around to make it look clean. I glued the end of the strip and it’s pretty good. The only thing is that the attached pieces are chunkier.
- I used a patterned shirt and the pattern didn’t allow the strips to curl all the way through, but it actually looks great.
Nice and fast no-sew project