DIY Tshirt to braided belt tutorial

Have you ever looked at Pinterest and thought, OMG that looks so easy! I could totally do that!

And then, have you ever looked into your closet and thought, “hmm, I’d love to have a bright blue belt, but I don’t want to spend money on it.”

And then, have you ever texted your sister and said, “Hey, can I cut up that tshirt you gave me into tiny strips? I want to make a tshirt to a DIY braided belt!”

And then, she texts back and is all, “Of course! It was going to Salvation Army anyway!”

And then…..a refashion is born.

This tshirt to braided belt tutorial is one of the thousands of things a person can do with gently used, unwanted and discarded tshirts. I mean, I never in my life thought I’d get so excited about old tshirts.

Here is the shirt in question:

Cute, but what am I going to do with a long sleeved tshirt? I live in Florida, people! That fact, combined with my mama pooch, meant it was getting the rotary cutter treatment…and I was gonna Pinterest the hell out of it.

• First, I cut the bottom of the tshirt, still folded, into four strips about two inches wide using my rotary cutter. I love my rotary cutter because it gives me much straighter lines than if I cut.

That picture is awful because it’s clearly not two inches, but you get the picture.

• Next, cut one side of your tshirt strips so they are four LONG pieces.
• Pin the four pieces together at one end with a safety pin and start to braid. It’s a fishtail braid for all y’all mamas of little girls (or fans of long hair), but for the braiding challenged among us, here is a really wonderful step-by-step of how it’s done (and my inspiration for this tshirt braided belt tutorial.)

• Braid the whole thing, and when you’re done, tie a knot on the opposite side of the safety pin (keep this on until you sew it.)

• Use a straight stitch to sew together each end. I used three lines of stitches on the safety pin side and one on the other side.
• Take the formerly knotted side of the braided tshirt belt to secure your belt “loops” — the hardware that will keep it in place. You can buy them at fabric and craft stores, but I had an old belt I didn’t wear anymore, so I recycled them.

• Loop your braided tshirt belt through both loops, then head back to your machine to stitch them closed. Use two or three lines of stitches to secure the braided tshirt belt to the loops. Be very careful because at this point, your belt will be quite thick. It depends a lot on the thickness of your strips and the material.

You’re done. It’s incredibly easy, even if you don’t know how to sew. Now, if you don’t now how to use scissors, that may be a problem.

Now? We wear our braided tshirt belt!

I love how this one turned out, and I want you to wear a braided tshirt belt, too. Win it!

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(As usual)(Because I love them)

(Because I love her too)