Make a bracelet from an old t shirt

Dear Chicago House,

I always knew I was destined to be the shortest member of my household. I am 5’7″ and Chicago teenager “over took” me about 6 months ago. Her closet needs a good sort out as there are so many things that don’t fit.

So I had a little sort and ended up with a bundle.

But before donating to Goodwill,  I thought I’d have a go at making something from old t shirts and this is what I came up with.

A braided memory wire bracelet

t shirt memory wire bracelet

And you can make one too!

This is what you need

  1. Old t shirts
  2. String
  3. Scissors
  4. Memory Wire
  5. Pliers

And this is what you do

  1. Cut 1″ wide long strips of fabric from your t shirts, mine were about 16″
  2. Stretch each strip so they start to roll into itself.
  3. Cut a length of string the same length as your stretched fabric strips.
  4. Knot two strips and the string together.
  5. Cut a length of memory wire (I used a loop and a half)
  6. Place your knotted bundle at the end of the wire and start braiding
  7. When braiding go under and over the memory wire to incorporate it.
  8. When you reach the end knot your braid and snip off the ends.

I made three in total. The pink and blue one was from a stripy shirt.

t shirt memory wire bracelet
t shirt memory wire bracelet

What have you made from old t shirts?

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

P.S. Are you following me on Facebook or Pinterest?

3 thoughts on “Make a bracelet from an old t shirt

  1. Hi! I just came across your post about these cool T-shirt bracelets- they are so cute!…. I've seen T-shirt bracelets before, but never heard of using memory wire (which I have never heard of) with them…. I am looking at the pictures above and wondering: For both of the bracelets you made, there is a white strip going throughout… it looks like string, but, my question is– is that the memory wire, or just a strip of white t-shirt? What does memory wire look like? Is it is a certain color? Is it hidden beneath the colors of the T-shirts you used? Thanks for your reply!

  2. Hi Jennifer,

    Glad you liked the bracelets. You are correct about the string, I used two strips of t-shirt fabric and 1 length of sting for each…it gave them some added texture. The memory wire is completely hidden in these bracelets…for a photo of memory wire check out THIS POST. You can get it in Michaels

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