Tee shirt yarn works great on the Weave-It Rug Loom or any loom on which you can weave 4 ends per inch but is too thick for a standard Weave-It or Weavette. Sample before you commit.

This method of cutting tee shirt yarn is down and dirty and fast. It requires a rotary cutter and mat. That’s it. Not even a ruler or straight edge.

It only works for single knits (jersey, stockinette), not interlock. (If you aren’t sure, cut a widthwise strip and pull on it. If it curls as you stretch, it’s jersey. If it frays, it’s interlock.) Plain tees with no side seams work best. Logos and printed motifs will mess up the stretch and curl, so either cut below the printing or recycle those shirts in another project. Side seam bumps will make the yarn unusable for needle weaving on little looms.

Lay the tee out flat, facing you, on the mat. Use a rotary cutter and cut from armpit to armpit as straight as you can. JUST EYEBALL IT! Save the top part for rags or whatever…

Turn the mat 90 degrees so that the edge you just cut is on the right (if you’re right handed). Cut from bottom folded edge to within one to two inches from the top folded edge and STOP there. Do not cut all the way through to the fold. Eyeball it.

Continue cutting strips all the way across, eyeballing ¾” strips. If your tee is very thin, you might want to make the strips wider and vice versa. Weave a sample before cutting up a huge pile of shirts, so you’ll know what thickness works best in your chosen technique. (Plain weave requires a thinner yarn than patterned weaves.) Discard the hem at the end.

Now, here comes the trick. Open up the top folded edge. You should have 2” to 4” of uncut fabric there with loopy fringe hanging down on both sides.

Lay this uncut part on the mat and push the strips out of the way. You will only be able get part of it flat, so do this in sections as you cut.

Begin with a slanted cut from outside edge to between 1st and 2nd strips at the top. This is a short (2”-4”) cut. Push it aside.

You’ve started a spiral. Continue to cut from bottom to top, pushing aside each strip as you liberate it from the body of the tee. Finish with a tapered cut at the end. You’ll end with a continuous strip of flat fabric, but it’s not done yet.

Hold the end of the strip in one hand and grab about two feet away with the other hand. Stretch firmly and slowly! Slide your hands along the strip, grabbing and stretching all the way to the end. Don’t jerk because if there are any thin spots, you could break the strip. Ball it up. That’s all there is to it. I can get from 20-30 yards of “yarn” from one adult tee.