Vampires Are Probably Really Annoyed By Scarves...

So I decided to make a t-shirt scarf...because I saw it on Pinterest.

"How to make a frilly scarf from a t-shirt":Original pin from The Pink Peony of Le Jardin.

Unless you live under a rock, you are probably aware that this was opening weekend for Breaking Dawn.  Oh, how I have counted the days until I could see it on the big screen!  I actually just got back from the theater and I LOVED IT!  LOVED IT.

I really wanted to wear something cute to the show.  I feel like I don't get out much these days so going to a movie with my bestie is sort of a big deal.  I saw this amazing t-shirt scarf and thought it would be perfect.  And ironic, right?  Because I'm covering up my neck to go see a vampire movie... I bet vampires get super annoyed by scarves.  

Anyway, I noticed a serious lack of green in my wardrobe so I chose a t-shirt that was an amazing shade of green.  Not grass green or lime green but somewhere in between. I will call it chartreuse! I got it at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon.  They are only $3.50 regular price so less than $2 after coupon.  You can print one of your own here.  (Some weeks they don't have the 40% off coupon.  It changes every Monday.)  Or you could always recycle an old t-shirt you already have as long as it's big enough.

All right, so gather a t-shirt (in a size XL or larger), scissors, and fabric glue or hem tape (and an iron if you use this option).  And you all know what happened to my fabric glue, right? 

This scarf ruffles because you cut out circles and then cut them into curls.  So you'll need a guide for cutting your circles. You can trace them out using a paper plate.  I ended up just cutting them out freehand (but making sure they were at least as large as the plate).  

I mean...am I really too lazy to trace my circles?  

Yes.

The original post recommends a 9in plate but mine was more like 11in.  The larger your circle, the longer your scarf will be.  Just make sure you have enough shirt to accommodate your plate as you will need at least 10 circles to make this look nice.  

First you need to cut off the hem like so:

I didn't toss it.  I ended up using a piece of it to tie all the layers together.  But it's up to you. (Pinterest has made me wary of throwing anything away.  How about you?)

Next, I cut under the arms of the shirt and set the top part aside. 

The original post doesn't use this top part but I wanted a really full scarf so I found a way to incorporate it at the end.

The shirt was now essentially a tube.  I stretched it really good and then I cut it up the side seam and made it one long piece of fabric. 

Which made me think...you could really do this with just about any fabric you have!  Like maybe you have, say...9 yards of knit left over from making your child a Halloween costume.  You could totally use that!

I was able to get 6 circles out of this piece of the shirt. I used the plate to measure off the width I needed for each piece I was going to cut.  Like this:

But like I said, I was too lazy to trace the circles so I just cut this piece of fabric in half.  That gave me two squares.  Then I cut each of the four corners off to make it sorta like a circle.  Lazy.  I know.  But it totally worked!  

Then I started on the side and cut about two inches in and around the circle.  Like in a curly-q fashion.  Can you tell?

When I made it all the way to the center, I held it up and was so excited to see that I'd made a ruffle!  I ran my hand down the ruffle to stretch it a little and make it curl.

After I cut all the circles out of the main part of the shirt, I tried to figure out how to use the top portion of the shirt.  I cut the sleeves off at the seams.  

Then I rounded the edges and cut in a curly-q fashion.  The sleeve didn't make a circle but the fabric will ruffle as long as you cut in a circular motion.  These ruffles are shorter, obviously, but I attached them to the longest ruffles.  You'll see.

Then I cut the neck seam off the top of the shirt and did the same thing-rounded the edges and cut in a circular fashion. 

I was able to get two more circles out of each side of the top part of the neck, so 4 total.  That gave me 12 ruffles in all (6 from the body, 2 from the sleeves, 4 from the top). They were various sizes depending on where I cut them from.  The next step involved piecing the ruffles together in pairs so I made sure to pair shorter ruffles with longer ones.  

I cut a small piece of fabric tape and affixed it to the end of a ruffle by pressing the iron (on the highest dry setting) to the tape for 8 seconds.  Remove the backing, place another ruffle on top of the tape and press it for 8 more seconds.

This is a super important point to make.  Put the fabric tape on the end of the ruffle that is the loosest (the part that was the outside of the circle).  The ruffle gets tighter as you cut into the circle and that is the prettiest part so don't hide it!

After I got all the ruffles paired up, I used a piece of the neck seam that I removed in the beginning to tie the bundle together around the middle.  

I don't have a fancy dress stand to model my creation on.  I did take a picture of myself wearing it under a poster for Breaking Dawn at the theater, but I'm seriously grinning like a deranged vampire-obsessed lunatic...so I'm not posting it.  This one will have to do:

What do you think?

I freaking adore this scarf!  I love everything about it.  I love that it is unique. I love the color!  I. Love. It.  LOVE!

I totally give this project an A+!  It was cheap (could even be free), only took an hour or so, and it turned out AMAZING!  So go make yourself one.  You can do it!