16 Cool Ways to Reuse Tee Shirts

Think about how many tee shirts your family goes through in a year or two.  How many do your kids outgrow, stain, or just plain wear out?  Many times our tee shirts aren’t even worthy of a thrift store by the time we are done with them.  You don’t have to throw those old tees away.  Or, maybe you simply find great deals on new tee shirts on the clearance rack an want to do something creative with them.  Here are some practical, fun and inventive uses for tee shirts.

Hint:  These are also great uses for those promo and free tee shirts you get from companies that you would never actually wear. 

Ways to Reuse Tee Shirts:  No Sewing Required

• Cut old tee shirts up to make rags.
• Make extra pads for your Swiffer.  Use the mop head part as a template.  You want the measurement to be about 2 inches all the way around so you can hook it into place.  This saves so much money!
• Use large clean tee shirts for garment bags.  Slip a suit jacket onto a hanger and slip it through the tee shirt leaving the tee’s sleeves hanging out.  It keeps the dust.
• Make homemade Tee-Shirt Yarn for knitting, crocheting, and looming (SO cool!!)
• Make a cute No-Sew Scarf from old tee shirts.
• This tutorial shows you have to make a No-Sew Vest out of an old tee shirt.
• Here is an easy No-Sew Tee Shirt Tote Bag that takes only 10 minutes (or so) or make!
• Make a homemade pillow or throw pillow cover using this No-Sew Pillow tutorial.
• Have an old tee shirt with a really cool design or graphic.  Grab an old wooden picture frame (8×10, 11×14, etc) and use it as a template and frame it around the graphic.  Then cut the fabric about an inch larger than the frame (all around).  Then take a hot glue gun and glue the tee to the frame to create a canvas type of look.
• Another option is to cut the graphic on the tee to fit inside a frame.  Then glue it to a piece of cardboard and insert it inside the picture frame.

Ways to Reuse Tee Shirts:  Sewing Required

• Check out this tutorial for making skirts for little girls using old tee shirts (or Dollar Store tees). 
• Make boutique style fabric flowers for head bands and hair clips.  (Minimal hand sewing)
• Cut old tee shirts in squares and sew them to make bean bags.  Any rice or dried beans will do for filling.  What a great cheap and easy toy for kids.
• A tee shirt quilt is a great way to reuse tee shirts with sentimental value.  It’s great for sports tees for men.  Or you can use your children’s old baby clothes.  Detailed tutorials can show you how it’s done.
• Making a throw pillow cover out of an old tee shirt is an easier and simpler way to hang on to an old special tee shirt.
• DIY Doggie Bed made out of old tee shirts and stuff with shredded tees.