Sustainable Hobbies: Making my own 't-shirt yarn'

Hi everyone!

Alongside my passion for caring for our environment and the world around us, a lesser-known fact about me is that I am also obsessed with both knitting and crocheting, and can almost always be found sitting in the corner with my latest project and a ball of yarn.

Both of these crafts are naturally pretty sustainable, so long as you buy your materials from reliable sources. However, these yarns and wools are often at the higher end of the price spectrum, and it is often tempting to reach for the cheaper options, where you get a lot more for what you pay, especially if you are on a budget. But they aren't very sustainable and often contain a lot of unnatural dyes and chemicals. This creates a bit of a problem, when if like me, you want to do what has had as little as possible impact on nature, but can't really afford to be constantly buying them.

I had heard about making t-shirt yarn a few times before but had never tried it until the other day when I saw a book on all of the different projects you could make out of it. This sparked inspiration, and later that same day, armed with one of my dad's old t-shirts, a pair of fabric scissors, and a YouTube tutorial I decided to give it a go.

You have to cut the t-shirt in zig-zags across the body and on the sleeves. This specific video I was following, even instructed you to unpick the hems, so you get the maximum amount of yarn out of it, with as little waste as you possibly can. In the end, I only had the collar of the top left over, and a small handful of trimmings. It really is an amazing way to make a yarn, that not only has a guaranteed little environmental impact, but is also cheap, and fun to do.

Because the yarn created is quite coarse and thick, it is perfect for creating items for around the house, or that need to be hard-wearing. Out of the 115-gram ball, I got out of the t-shirt, I managed to make a pot, that is the perfect size for storing small balls of wool in (as you can see above). The t-shirt yarn means that the pot keeps its shape better than if you make one out of normal wool, so it really is better all-round.

I think this project really proved to me how easy it can be to try something new, and to change your personal impact on the world around you, even if it is something as small as a hobby.

Your Green World Blog Team💚

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