t-shirt necklaces and other assorted accessories

do you ever get in one of those super copying moods? i blame pinterest. it's so easy to find so many amazing ideas, i sometimes get stuck in a rut and just want to copy half of what i see there. i had a mass of t-shirts that were too worn out or stained to use for much, so i decided to slice them up for various projects that i'd seen there, such as this headband (you can find the links to the original tutorials on this post of mine):

and this scarf/necklace:

i will not bore you with summarizing other people's tutorials. however the second idea i mentioned here did inspire me with a way to use up t-shirt sleeves. man, i have a bag full of them! but i also had some sliced-up t-shirt sleeve strips left over from a kids' "green art" activity i helped organize (it's not a refashion, but it is upcycling also using bottle caps, as you can see below. if you're at all interested, you can read about that here) and wasn't sure how to use them. and of course the kids had used up all the fun colors so i was left with black, grey and white. and one measly blue.

so slice your sleeve into strips, like so. get rid of the hem strip because it won't stretch properly. unless you want to unpick the stitching, in which case it probably will, but i can't vouch for it because i haven't had the patience to do so and see.

then, as with the scarf project above, you take those sleeve strips and stretch them out one at a time, making them not only roll up nicely but also making them the perfect slip-over-your-neck necklace length. another perk of using sleeves instead of the whole torso of the shirt: there's only one seam (at the armpit). so arrange all your strips so the seams are lined up, take another t-shirt strip and wrap it around the seams so as to cover them and keep all the strips together and stick the ends under itself. and voila! my horrifyingly boring and seemingly useless black, grey and white t-shirt sleeve strips became a fabulously hip grayscale t-necklace! i will add that it's a perfect accessory for the hot humid summer (which is now officially gone for us here in italy) because it doesn't cover you too much and feel hot (like the t-shirt scarf above) and doesn't stick to your sweaty skin like most other jewelry. yah all around!

to read all about my t-shirt accessory experiments, just click here!