My Homemade T-Shirt Scarf

A few months ago, I was perusing some crafty blogs and came across a tutorial for a scarf made out of old t-shirts. I really liked the idea -- although my scarf is modified quite a bit from the tutorial, it was my inspiration -- and I snagged a couple $1 shirts from the thrift store, then ended up setting the project aside for quite a while. I finally whipped it up last night, and it was super-fast and easy! Unfortunately, I'm afraid the scarf might be something that's good in theory but an item I may never wear in actuality. I'm so matchy-matchy about everything, and I'm not sure what I'd wear the scarf with other than a black shirt like in the pictures. Maybe I'll make another with just one (bland, boring, neutral) color family, like gray. Anyway, here's what I did:

1. Gather some old t-shirts in coordinating colors. Cut them apart so the shirts are in two pieces, front and back. Cut blocks of fabric in the same size from each shirt. The pink shirt I used was really tiny (an XS) so I cut the biggest swatch I could from that (10 inches across) and cut the rest of my pieces to match that width.

2. Get out your sewing machine (and, if you're like me, brush the dust off and find the instruction manual). Sew the pieces together. I chose to sew the wrong sides together so the stitching would be hidden, but exposed stitches -- especially in a contrasting color -- would look neat.

3. Fold the scarf in half hot-dog style, wrong sides facing out. If you're going to add fringe like I did, mark the spot where you want the fringe to start so you know where to stop sewing. Then sew the long sides of the scarf together to form a tube. Turn the tube right side out, and cut your fringe if desired. I'm actually pretty conflicted on the fringe. I had about a 10 different ideas for the ends of the scarf, such as: sew them closed and use scraps of pink t-shirt to tie bows on the ends; sew closed with a big pink zig-zag stitch; or use leftover pink fabric to make ruffles for the ends.

4. Put the scarf on, marvel at the softness of the fabric and admire your handiwork.