Maker Monday: Let’s make “t-shirt yarn”

Happy Monday, Kidsburgh readers! We’re back with another installment of our Maker Monday “Let’s Try” videos, created by our friends at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. We’re excited to bring you this free maker activity.

This week’s project will teach kids to make yarn out of any old t-shirts you have around the house. You’ll find all the details on materials and instructions right here, and you can follow along on the video below to learn each easy step.

A note to kid makers: Please work with a parent or caregiver on every project and always be very careful when using tools of any kind.

Maker Monday materials you’ll need:

• any old t-shirt
• fabric scissors

Instructions:

• Lay the t-shirt down on a flat surface.
• Cut across from underarm to underarm.
• Save the top part of the t-shirt to use later.
• Use the tip of your scissors to undo the hem.
• Put what used to be the seam side toward you.
• Fold the fabric over, leaving about two inches exposed.
• Make parallel cuts about 3/4 of an inch apart.
• Be sure not to cut into the extra two inches at the top.
• Unfold the fabric so you can see the part that is still connected.
• Move the fabric so the connected piece of fabric is on top.
• Cut diagonally from the bottom edge to the first cut. (Be sure you’re only cutting one layer of fabric!)
• Continue making diagonal cuts. This will continue making one long strip of t-shirt material.
• Start pulling on the long strip, section by section.
• As you pull, the edges will curl and form a smooth piece of yarn.
• Start wrapping the pulled pieces into a ball as you continue to pull.
• Now you have a ball of t-shirt yarn!

Want more at-home fun making beautiful things? Check out more Maker Monday videos from Kidsburgh and the Children’s Museum.