Saturday, April 20, 2013

T-shirts to Coasters: Crocheting with Fabric

Hello my fellow co-op members! Today I have an awesome DIY/refashion project for you, especially for those of you who know how to crochet! And really the project is so easy, that even beginner crocheters can recreate it in their free time. All you need is a lot of patience :)


I am going to share how to make a set of coasters using this technique. Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis, I hope you remember my newly freecycled coffee table! Well, even though I got it for free, I didn’t want to ruin it by putting mugs with hot tea and coffee directly on the surface, so I started cutting!
Here is what you’ll need:
1-2 large T-shirts that you don’t wear anymore (husband’s will do!)
A pair of scissors
A large crochet hook, preferably number 3 or higher!
A LOT OF PATIENCE!
Start by laying the T-shirt out flat,
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You are going to start cutting the shirt from the bottom up! The trick is to move in a spiral, that way the “yarn” of fabric won’t break! Another great tip is to cut the strip about 0.8″ (1 cm) wide, that way you are not going too thin and fabric rips, neither is it too thick and hard to crochet with!
I cut up 2 shirts, and that was more than enough to make a set of 6 coasters! Here is a picture where you can see the giant ball of fabric yarn that I had made:
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All you do next is simply crochet a circle and make it as wide as you want! So start with ch 5, then 10 sc into the circle, then 2 sc into every 1 sc of the previous row, keep going, adding sc where you feel like they are needed, so that the coaster looks flat and round!
And…
Enjoy!
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Have a great weekend everyone, stay tuned for more DIY posts!
Xo,
Zhenya

2 comments:

Sandy said...

this is good. I have been thinking of this just this weekend! Okay, my husband doesn't wear t-shirts. but I might try other fabric cut on the bias.

I think you could stitch enough of these together to make a scarf, shawl or even a shrug or cardigan!
Sandy in the UK

Refashion said...

Thanks Zhenya! I now have my wheels turning about how to use what spare tees that I have. -Seeks, EOD