T-Shirt Refashion: Jersey Necklace

111 Comments

Sometimes I feel like I ride on the coattails of creative people.

Back in January as I was surfing my favorite blogs, I came across this post on Ultra Vroom about cardigans and fabric necklaces. I instantly fell in love and had to have a fabric necklace for my very own. I week or so later I remembered the large stash of white jersey hanging around the basement and hap-hazardly made my own version of Annie‘s fabric necklace.

If I remember correctly, I wore that necklace for 4 days in a row. I didn’t really take it off until Penelope bumped her mouth on the table and bled all over me (Penelope is ok, BTW). It was with much sorrow that I parted with the necklace long enough to launder it.

I love my necklace so much, I’ve been wanting to share it with you for sometime, but haven’t worked on the tutorial until just now. Here it is! I hope you like it.

Materials:

  • 1 XXL or XXXL men’s t-shirt
  • Scissors and/or rotary cutter
  • Sewing machine and or needle & thread

Cut off the bottom hem of the shirt. Cut 9 2-inch strips out of the shirt.

Cut open one end of each strip. Stretch the jersey through your hands to allow the fabric to curl inside itself. Group strips into threes.

Sew coiled ends together. Secure the end to a stationary object (like a couch) with a safety pin. Start braiding. I find that a tight braid looks nice, but avoid pulling and stretching the fabric.

Once finished braiding, sew ends together to make three separate rings of fabric.

Cut a 5 x 7 inch square of fabric from the remainder of the shirt, fold it over the three braids and sew. Sew the tube as close to the braids as possible for a snug fit. Trim excess fabric. Turn right side out.

Voila! Your necklace is complete. Twist, and double over and you’re ready to rock and roll!

If you twist the loop twice before doubling over, the necklace looks like this (above).

Twist the necklace once before doubling over and pull some loops longer to have a cowl neckline (above).

So there you have it, in less than 15 minutes you can have a really rad fabric necklace ’round your neck. Hope you give it a try! Happy Weekend, All!

P.S. You might want to check out Annie’s etsy shoppe: Annily Green.

view or add a comment
  • Categories
    1. Lala says:

      Nice I’m bout to me one right now.

    2. Kathie Canter says:

      I love your instructions and pictures!

    3. […] Idea and photo credit to melissaesplin.com  […]

    4. Cindy says:

      Looks like you may have tied two strips together before you braided so each braid will be super long. When I tried it, it did not come out long enough to double over as you show, so I have been studying the photos to try to figure it out. Did you tie strips together? Thanks!

      • Melissa says:

        I didn’t do anything to the strips, I just cut the shirt up and used an XXL shirt, so it’s wide. there was one seam where the shirt was originally sewn together, but that was already there.

    5. Ruth says:

      This was a fun item to do on a rainy day. I needed something for a dress neckline and did not want to buy “jewelry”. I hope this will work with it…if not I will use to accessorize another!! Great directions!!

    6. Laura says:

      Such a cute necklace! What a perfect DIY tutorial for summer!

    7. Victoria says:

      Hey, your tutorial is lovely! How much yarn would it take to make such a necklace if I’m working with pre-made recycled yarn?

    8. […] Stocking cloth- 1 pack pink + 1 pack orange (often used for flower making) Pom-poms- various sizes (similar found here) Anchor thread/ embroidery thread (similar found here) Wool yarn for knitted patch (tutorial for basic knitting) Ric-rac ribbon Printed fabric Embroidered fabric scraps Knitted fabric in pink Three colour braids of knit fabric (how-to tshirt braid tutorial) […]

    mobile site