A friend of mine asked what to do with t-shirts she no longer wanted, but that are personal enough that she is uncomfortable dropping them off at thrift stores. What I mean by “personal” t-shirts are ones printed with photographs of family or friends from special celebrations, t-shirts designed for amateur sports teams with everyone’s full names on them, t-shirts from camp or high school clubs and so on.
I know from experience that my mom uses such t-shirts as rags. I am curious to hear what other people do, especially other creative ideas. Please feel free to share in the comment area. I hope this helps inspire my friend to let go of her unwanted personal t-shirts.
Wishing everyone a fun and safe 4th of July weekend!
A partner of mine had MANY t-shirts that she no longer wanter to wear, but couldn’t part with. I sewed the shirts into a blanket that was then used!
I’ve heard of people cutting these T shirts into big squares and making them into a quilt. With so many memories, it would be hard for me to use them as rags, but a memory quilt is really meaningful and puts the T shirts to good use!
Thank you Taan and Shira for your reply. I’ve also gotten replies from a couple people to my email saying the same thing… converting their favorite t-shirts into quilts to use in the winter time. Great suggestions.
I’ve seen a blanket made from old t-shirts… The wife of a couple I know found a company online, shipped a bunch of her husband’s old t-shirts that he wanted to keep (and she wanted to get rid of) to this company, and had them made into a blanket that she gave him as a wedding present. It might be a bit expensive, but probably worth it if there’s sentimental value to the clothes you don’t want to throw or give away.
Also, I think your mom stole the rags idea from my mom (or vise versa).
A friend of mine shared another interesting idea of what to do with old t-shirts. Thanks to Danielle for sharing this:
About old t-shirts…i think if they have certain sentimental value I would frame the portion that is sentimental and use it as art in my house….I have a few t-shirts that I am actually about to do that with…I love them and have had them since I was a kid and want to keep them! It’s kind of funky so it might not be for everyone….but that’s my idea.
Another idea from Adina & Elisheva (Thanks gals!): Making headbands from old t-shirts which describes pretty well of how to do it with pictures.
http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/06/repurposing-tshirts-into-5-strand-braided-headbands.html