Recycled T-Shirt Belt

Making a belt out of old t-shirts is easy and thrifty. Just pick up some D rings from a craft store or even Wal-Mart, or maybe you have an old belt of a style you don't care for anymore that you can re-use the rings for this project.

I chose a T-shirt that I didn't wear anymore because it was too stretched out nut I still loved the colors in it. I wanted a skinny belt to just add some detail to my waist with another top, but you can easily make a much thicker belt by cutting/ripping thicker pieces from the T-shirt.

Measure your waist and take that number and times it by 2.5. That is the length that you need to allow to rip from the t-shirt so that you can accomodate the braiding, My shirt was a loose fit and baggy one, so you might need to get a shirt from someone a size or two bigger from you to make this.

Rip the fabric (or cut, depending upon the fabric) your desired width and a length that is 2.5x your waist.

Fold over the fabric over the flat edge of one of the D rings with about a 2" tail. Sew this down just below the edge of the D ring. Then place the other D ring on the opposite side of the tail and fold the tail through the 2nd D ring. Stitch this in place. Trim away any extra fabric.

Now you can braid your belt. When you get near the end, try on your belt to see how much further you need to braid. When you have your desired length, tie off the end (or you could stitch it over if you wanted) and trim the ends.

Try It Tuesday: T-Shirt Super Hero Cape

This is one of the presents that my 7 year old daughter made for her brother for Christmas. I have the kids each make 2 gifts for each other. They like to be crafty and love to see how happy people are when they give them a gift they took the time to make.

This is a no-sew project, just cutting. So, be sure you are using sharp scissors. If they are dulling, they may not cut through the fabric very well and will be frustrating for them. 

After she was done cutting I let her use the permanent markers to draw a design and write on the back. I like to let me kids do as much of the work as possible so that they really feel this is something they made and they are learning new skills in the process.

These are the instructions I gave my daughter on cutting up one her her dad's old t-shirts (t-shirts work great because the jersey material won't fray, so no sewing is needed.)

• Cut up the side seams and around the arm hold on both sides.
• Next cut from around the outside of the collar in the front from shoulder to shoulder.
• Finally, cut a diagonal line from about half way down (I put a dot there so she knew exactly where I meant) up to the collar on the backside. Do not cut through the collar. 
• Discard the leftover pieces.

This picture here you can see how she is starting her diagonal cut.

Depending upon the age of the child you may want to do all the cutting and let them do the decorating. This is a fun way to create your own custom costume and possibly make someone a gift.