Ways to Repurpose Old T-Shirts

If you are a typical Baby Boomer, or maybe I should say typical American, you have a collection of t-shirts stored away somewhere. Those shirts you just had to have to remember all those special occasions lost their usefulness after a while. (Or, for some reason, they do not fit your frame any longer.) Instead of taking valuable storage space in your home, repurpose them and make them functional again.

An old tee makes a great book bag.

With some creative cutting and a little sewing, you can make that old shirt into a book bag. Then you can keep it handy for road trips, library runs, or study dates. For specific directions for turning a tee into a bag, go to http://www.ehow.com/how_4873548_book-bag-tshirt.html.

An old tee makes great cleaning rags.

If your tee has seen better days, cut it up and make cleaning rags. You do not need to hem the edges because the cotton knit will not ravel. A good size is 12 inches square. This is big enough for washing the car, cleaning up kitchen spills, or even waxing the entryway floor. Save the sentimental sections of the shirt (pictures or writing) to use on crafty projects.

A collection of old tees makes a great quilt.

On my list of projects to complete before I am completely senile is a tee shirt quilt. A good resource for complete instructions and lots of pictures is How to Make a Too Cool T-shirt Quilt by Andrea T. Funk. I have the book and the shirts-now all I need is the time!

An old tee makes a soft pillow.

When my daughter first went to pre-school, she needed something from home to take with here to make nap time a little more friendly. While digging through her outgrown clothes, I found her favorite Little Mermaid t-shirt. After a little creative cutting and stitching, it found a new life as her favorite nap time pillow. I stuffed it with quilt batting that never made it into the original project I planned. You can stuff a pillow with just about anything soft enough to lay your head on: batting, foam, even Styrofoam peanuts.

Instead of hiding all those once-treasured tee shirts in a drawer or closet, pull them out think of creative ways to bring them back to life. Not only will you get to re-live some old memories; you will also get the good feeling of helping keep our planet green by upcycling.