Recycling T-Shirts
by Catherine E. Galioto
Description: Tip for recycling old t-shirts.
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Everyone has one – a favorite tee shirt. Maybe the color looks good on
you, or it fits a little too well. Perhaps it’s got some quote or
picture on it that serves as a window to your soul (or is just really cool).
Chances are, your favorite t-shirt is worn often, and is now bordering
on the ratty, tattered, and all-around run down.
But you’ve become too attached to the thing. You’re not ready to let
go.
Fear not, you can save that oft worn article of clothing and even reuse
it without dishonoring its legacy. Try one or more of these options and
you and your tee shirt will have many more memories together.
• Repair it. Most clothing repair involves sewing up a hole, seam or
fray. In truth, unless you got your tee shirt caught in some power
equipment, you’ll need only a foot of thread and a needle and 15 minutes of
your day. If a needle and thread scare you, grab an iron and material
called fusible webbing. Instead of sewing, you iron the problem shut. If
even this seems to complicated, try another solution or having someone
knowledgeable in the sewing arts complete the task as you both watch
Full House reruns.
• Dye it. If this tee is looking dingy or faded, all it may need is a
dye job. RIT dye comes in 35 colors, and since we’re talking about tee
shirts, we’re talking about cotton – the easiest fabric to dye. All you
really need is a $2 bottle of dye, hot water and your shirt, and that
favorite piece of clothing will lose that bottom-of-the-hamper look in
favor of an off-the-rack one, in the time it takes to do a load of
laundry.
• Reposition it. After years of over-use, each time you wear that tee,
people are giving you a sorry look and offering you money. Holes, frays
and other battle scars are showing on your tee shirt. If mending is not
possible, give your shirt new life as an undershirt. It may not be able
to stand on its own, but under a cardigan, polo or button-down, your
favorite shirt is still visible, but it’s imperfections are not. Problem
solved.
• Get crafty. Hobby and craft stores line their walls with buttons,
patches, transfers, iron-ons, borders and paints to transform your
tee-shirt into a totally new creation. Such items can flatter what’s there or
hide something that shouldn’t be, and are easy to apply.
• Salvage it. Think of your shirt as a car with many worthwhile parts,
and salvage what you can. For example, if it’s long sleeves, cut it
down to short sleeves. Or, if the sleeves are going, lop them off and
you’ve got a sleeveless tee. There’s also plenty of ways of altering your
tee to give it a new neckline, seams, pockets, etc. – consult the
nearest clothing store for inspiration.
• Reuse it. Your tee shirt can enjoy a new life as a pillowcase. Turn
the shirt inside out, and sew a straight line near the neckline, from
arm to arm, and sew the arm holes shut too. Voila, you now have a
pillowcase. If you are ambitious, you can make a drawstring bag from a tee
shirt. Turn it inside out and sew the bottom and armholes closed. Get a
nice piece of cord you like, as long as you want the strap to be, plus
about 4 inches. Make a small incision into the neckline hem, and insert
the cord through it, putting more and more in until it comes full circle
around the neck. Pull the cord tight, and you’ve just closed your new
bag. For a simpler way to reuse your old favorite, cut around the
picture or quote that made it so great, and sew it on to a new shirt, book
bag, jacket, whatever. Or frame the thing if you’re really nostalgic.
If you’re really sentimental, these options will save your lucky tee
shirt into becoming a forgotten memory. And if you’re broke, you’ll save
the cost of a new tee – in fact, these steps take little to no money.
And of course, that venerable institution that is the favorite tee
shirt will live to see another day.
Catherine E. Galioto is a freelance writer from New Jersey who is
obsessed with saving money. Contact her at cgalioto8@yahoo.com.
