Scarf Obsession

I have a scarf obsession. I will fully, and openly, admit that. However, I saw these pinned (and re-pinned and re-pinned...) all over Pinterest and thought it was so cool, I had to try! Thankfully, I've been slowly working on my Goodwill pile and decided that one of those shirts presented the perfect opportunity to experiment - what did I have to lose? One less t-shirt donated? Win for me.

I picked this shirt: it's bright, fun, has a neat pattern, and I hadn't worn it in forever. Better yet? I got it like 3 years ago from Kohl's for less than $5 (clearance shopper extraordinaire, I am). I actually took out two shirts, but I haven't done the other yet, so you get to wait for that one. This scarf is awesomely easy. Most of the blogs that I've found have used just plain, colored cotton t-shirts; like the kind you can get at Hobby Lobby or Michael's for less than $5 a pop. That's my next attempt! Most sites recommend using at least an XL tshirt.

First, cut off the bottom. This one had a band at the bottom (so it almost bubbled, almost); and most shirts are now cut so the back is a little longer at the bottom. Then start cutting in strips! Mine were about an inch wide each, and I got about 15 of them out of the shirt. The more strips you get, the thicker your scarf will be!

Gather them all up and start stretching! Stretch until these babies don't stretch anymore. The longer you can get them to stretch, you can either double or triple once you're wearing it - almost like an infinity scarf, if you can get it that long. Yes, I'm using my foot - they were easier to hold onto and pull that way! Creative, I know.

I don't have photos of the last part, but it's easy: I took the band I cut off the bottom, took out the hem and used that piece to wrap around a small section of all my loops. I found another blog that used leather strips for this part, and added beads and it looks AMAZING, but I'll try that next time. I just wanted to see if this even worked!

 Excuse the ugly photos -- I don't like this short! Like I said, the more you can get them to stretch, the more you can do with it. I would have also added another t-shirt to make the overall scarf thicker.

 

Much better longer! I loved it! And yes, I may have planned my whole outfit that day around the scarf... what do you think? 

Here, a few other blogs for inspiration: T Shirt Scarf / Scarf Part Two (I LOVE the contrast of the stripes and solids in that first one! And the second is what using a big cotton tshirt would look like)