Spaghetti T-Shirt Scarf

Tags

diy, scarf, t-shirt, t-shirt scarf

Apparently, size does matter when you’re making a t-shirt scarf.

I found a super easy tutorial the other day by “Margo is crafty,” and thought it looked like fun.  One can never have too many scarves.  🙂  However, the tutorial did call for a size XL or XXL shirt, but the only ones I had lying around were mediums.

How much difference can it make? I thought, and I proceeded to make the scarf:

1.  Cut off the top of the shirt and the hem, and — if you want to do a fast cutting job — fold the bottom piece in half.  Make sure that the edges aren’t perfectly lined up; I left about an inch of fabric at the top of the fold.  This will keep your scarf together, so make sure to follow this step!  If this is too confusing and you don’t mind doing a little extra cutting, just don’t fold the shirt.  I’ll tell you how to proceed in the next step.  🙂

Look at the right edge of the bottom of the tee — see how one edge of the shirt doesn’t quite line up with the other?  That’s what you want.

2.  Begin cutting your shirt into approx. 1.5 inch strips.  Start at the folded edge and go until you cut through the first fold at the other end.  Do not go all the way though the shirt!  Once you’re don you can unfold the shirt.  If you did not fold your t-shirt, just cut 1.5 inch strips all the up the t-shirt, leaving about and inch of fabric uncut at the other end.  It’s kind of like making fringe; the folding is just so you don’t have to do as much cutting.

See the top edge? I’ve cut through that first fold, but NOT the second.

This is the shirt cut and unfolded.

3.  Now grab the loops and stretch them as much as you like!  I found it easiest to do a few strips at a time, but you could just grab and stretch them all at once.

All stretched out!

4.  Gather the uncut part of the fabric in your hand so you have a loop of fabric.   The strips you stretched will hang down like a big U.  Then take the hem you cut off and wrap it around the uncut piece — this gives the scarf a more finished look.  Tie it off and either tuck the ends under or cut them off.

The bottom of the U in the picture is the uncut fabric that I have gathered. The hem is ready to wrap!

Hem is wrapped; I just snipped off those ends.

Tada!  You’re done.  I put a black flower pin on mine.

I’m so sorry it’s upside-down! I do weird things with the camera — photographer I am not.

So, back to the size. . .when I tried on my scarf, it hung about to my waist.  Well, that’s okay, right?  Sort of.  It looked okay that way, but I was really planning on doubling it up.  However, when I did that, it was way short — more like a really thick choker than a scarf.  Ah, well, I’ll still wear it…but they mean what they say…size does matter.

Toms Flag Curling Iron Case

Tags

clothing, curling iron, curling iron case, curling wand, curling wand case, diy, Toms, Toms curling iron, tutorial

I cannot curl my hair worth anything.  Before Christmas, the only way I knew to curl my hair was to put it up when it was wet.  I am hopeless with a curling iron.

However, some genius has made a way for my poor unskilled self, and invented a curling wand, which is slightly different than an iron and much easier to use.  And then someone awesome gave me one for Christmas.  🙂

I decided to make a case for it.  I’ve seen a lot of styling product cases that are made with insulating fabric — that way you can do your hair and immediately stick the iron in a drawer or suitcase without anything getting burned.  Mine is not like that.  It’s really more to protect against scratches (read: clumsiness) and general grossness, so I’ll still have to let my iron cool for a while after I use it.  But hey — the case is made with a Toms flag.  How awesome is that?  (I’ve also made a Toms wallet — go check it out!)

All I used was the flag, some t-shirt scraps for padding, and my wand to measure with.

Always save your scraps.  They are useful.

First, I cut squares out of the t-shirts using the Toms flag as a pattern, leaving the fabrics stacked.

Snip, snip

Next, I folded the stack of fabric over onto itself, Toms flag on the inside, so I could measure the width of the case.  I wanted it pretty snug against the barrel, but had to leave enough room for the cord.  I slipped the iron between the fold and pinned around it.  Then I drew a line of best fit and sewed it up.

You can see where I am pinning around the iron.

Now I’ve sewn the line of best fit.

Once I had done all that, I pinked off the extra fabric and turned it inside out.  Then I sewed a small zigzag stitch around the top opening to keep the layers in place.  You could use any stitch, but the zigzag made it a little more decorative.

Finished product!

The whole project probably only took an hour or less.  I wasn’t really watching the time, but it’s a short and simple project.  You could do it with any fabric too, by  measuring the length of your iron and the width you want the case to be and just cutting out some rectangles..  You could even make it heat-proof by using insulated fabric instead of t-shirts.  Endless options, as always!  That’s why I love sewing.