T-shirts, albeit very simple, could be the most versatile piece of clothing you could ever find in your closet. How, you ask? Easy! Get a pair of scissors and start cutting away some fabric!
Cutting and weaving t-shirts are usually done when one wants to repurpose or restyle shirts that well, lack style. Or sometimes, your favorite t-shirt gets too beat up because of overuse, they don’t look quite as good anymore as when you first purchased them. What better way to make them feel brand new again than to redesign them! There are a number of t-shirt weaving styles you could try, heck, you could even invent your own!
For those who are afraid they might just end up ruining their favorite t-shirts by cutting away, here are a few instructions on how to create certain t-shirt weaving styles:
- Ladder style
To do this, the first thing done should be to cut off the sleeves and neckline of the shirt to make it look like a tank top. Next, cut some horizontal holes at the back and distance them in a sense that they would look like strips. Start weaving! Take the second strip under the first strip then turn it over. Take the third strip under the second strip, then turn it over. Do the same procedure until you reach the end of the shirt. To close the weave, there are a number of different options, but the easiest one would be to cut the fabric and tie the strings together to form a double knot. You may also choose to stitch them or pin them together instead.
- Muscle tee with fringes
Another simple way to refurbish your t-shirt would be to cut its sleeves then create some fringes on the bottom. This seems to work perfectly with band t-shirts! First, cut off the sleeves to turn it into a muscle tee (the bigger the armhole, the better). Next, cut the bottom part of the tee vertically to make fringes. You may opt to braid them, leave them as is, bedazzle them with some beads – your choice!
- Stripe cuts
Using a pencil, draw some lines on wherever you want to make the cuts – they may be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, it’s really up to you. Make sure you cut smoothly, since jagged edges may just ruin the look entirely! After cutting, stretch the fabric out to make the edges look cleaner and make the edges roll in a little. Weave some ladder-style to add some fancy work, or leave them as is.
- Twist weave
Much like the ladder style of weaving, only before moving on to the next strip, you have to twist the strip of fabric to make a loop where the next strip would we weaved onto.
- Tied sides
Cut the entire side of the shirt vertically, then lay it out as if you were going to fold it, making sure that the front and back overlap evenly. From here, you may opt to cut some triangles or rectangles, depending on what look you would be going for. Cut triangles if you want to have cutouts that look like diamonds, and rectangles if you just want to have some simple tie sides. Discard the cutouts after cutting then tie the edges of the triangle or rectangle (now looking like strips) together.
Now these are only a few of the numerous t-shirt weaving styles out there. Which one is your favorite so far? Do you think you can create your own t-shirt weaving style? Post your thoughts below.