Stop right where you are! Don’t even think about throwing away those old t-shirts. Okay, if one of them has a horrible stain, sure, but just because a shirt is old or looks worn doesn’t mean it can serve no further purpose. In fact, a t-shirt you no longer wear can easily be turned into a fashionable necklace that’s unique and stylish.
If you make a necklace from a t-shirt that is a solid color it will look a bit different than one made from a shirt with a graphic design or lettering. No matter what kind of t-shirt you’re using you’ll prepare it by laying it out flat on a table. Cut off the hem; you won’t need it.
Using a yardstick, mark the remainder of the shirt, horizontally, so that you have strips which are ¾” wide. Make as many of these as you can between the cutoff-hem area to the underarm area. Open each loop and stretch it as much as possible. When you stretch the pieces they’ll begin to curl and that’s exactly what you want. Once they’re curled they look like colored rope.
Some t-shirts have side seams and some don’t. Stack all the loops on top of each other and, if the shirt you’re using has side seams, align the loops so that all of the side seams are in the same area, and on top of each other.
It’s up to you how thick you want the necklace to be. Once you have a stack as large as you want, tie them all together with a small, thin strip of the t-shirt material. Tie the knot under the necklace then tuck the ends of the tie into the necklace, under the tie. If your shirt has side seams be sure to attach the tie to conceal them.
There are lots of different looks you can do with the t-shirt necklaces. Combine two or more colors of t-shirts to make one type. Another change you can make is, instead of tying all the t-shirt loops together with a piece of the t-shirt, clamp them shut with a gold-tone or silver-tone, metallic piece which you’ll find at a home improvement store. There, they have all sorts of metallic pieces which will just clamp over the loops and create a classy look.
Yet another look you can do is to attach a few rhinestones, here and there, on the necklace, using fabric glue. Or, gather the loops together in the front, and attach a flat, wooden shape, plastic novelty, or ceramic piece. No matter how you make or embellish them the t-shirt necklaces are cheap yet fashionable. Make many different ones then mix and match with your outfits.