A couple weeks ago, I shared how to make yarn from an old t-shirt, and based on the number of times I’ve seen it pinned, you guys were into it. The thing with t-shirt yarn is that one t-shirt doesn’t yield all that much yarn. I mean, the cross-body phone case pattern I shared took most of one t-shirt’s worth of yarn to make. But what about when you’re thinking about projects on a larger scale? That’s when I recommend you try your hands at making fabric (a.k.a. jersey) yarn. It’s super easy, and if you get your hands on a set of jersey sheets at the thrift store, you can upcycle that into yarn using the same technique I’m about to share. It’s so easy and the effect fabric yarn has on knit and crochet projects is something I’m LOVING right now!
Supplies
a few yards of knit jersey fabric (I prefer using something that’s 50% cotton/50% polyester.)
fabric scissors
Directions
Start by cutting the selvage off of your fabric’s edges. Most fabrics you buy come with an edging woven specially so that it won’t fray or ravel. That’s great for the fabric as it sits on its bolt at the store, but for yarn creation purposes, you want that stuff gone.
The selvage will stretch a little differently than the body of the fabric. Pictured below, you can see how it immediately rolled up like a scared bug when I cut it away from the fabric’s body. The rest of the fabric didn’t do that when cut, which means it will result in weird patches of your knitting or crochet project that could have a different gauge when you work with your DIY yarn.
In this picture, the selvage fabric is pictured on top and the yarn is on the bottom. See the difference?
When your selvage is severed, set it aside. Start cutting your fabric into one, continuous inch-wide strip.
Work around your fabric in a jointed spiral, like this, to make the strip of continuous fabric.
I recommend balling your yarn as you go – the whole point here is to make enough yarn to make more than a tiny project, which means you’ll be cutting and winding for awhile. If your hands start to hurt, take a break! I bruised my knuckle and made my tendons achier than necessary before I realized this was more than a single sitting project! (Oops.)
That’s really it! You just need to make sure to buy the right fabric and cut it into a single, long, yarn-like piece of fabric. Between the t-shirt yarn and this fabric yarn, I might be skipping the yarn store more often in the summer to experiment with this fun fiber alternative.
Rachel | The Crafted Life
July 7, 2014 at 3:30 pmHow cool! Can’t wait to see what you do with this pattern!
Namrata
July 18, 2014 at 12:18 amSuperb ideas. Want to try ASAP.
Sky Turtle
July 21, 2014 at 7:34 amNeat! I was using my serger to attach the ends, but this looks much easier.
I’ll give it a try. I also like you fabric choice <3
Heidi
July 21, 2014 at 9:57 pmThanks! I think it’ll make a fun summer bag! ;)
Monika
August 16, 2014 at 8:42 amThanks for that great tip! I crochet a basket with yarn and loved it (2014 Xmas gift for neighbors!). Will look for fabric at thrift stores.
Heidi
August 16, 2014 at 9:08 amAwesome! I’m totally hooked (no pun intended) on DIY fabric yarn right now!! -Heidi :)
Stefanie
November 24, 2014 at 11:20 amHi! I love this and making tshirt yarn and was looking into using the jersey fabric to get more consistent yarn. I just experimented with a small bit of unusable tshirt shaped like a rectangle using this method. I was curious how the corners of yours did when stretched out (when you turn the cut at the ends of the fabric)? Because mine were ugly and stuck out quite a bit. I’m not exactly an expert with scissors so I was just looking for some tips for this! Thanks!
Stefanie
November 24, 2014 at 11:22 amOh and also if you know how many yards you got out of the fabric? any rough guesstimate will do!
Heidi
November 24, 2014 at 2:22 pmHi Stefanie – I left the corners sort of wild, but if you cut your fabric into an oval before cutting and are careful to cut a consistent width, you won’t end up with flaps sticking out wider than the rest of the yarn (does that make sense?). And the yardage you get out of your fabric will totally vary depending on how thick you cut it – the thicker it is, the few yards you’ll get out of your fabric. I have no idea if this helps – let me know! -Heidi :)
Stefanie
December 3, 2014 at 10:01 amThanks so much that helps a lot actually!
Karenmf
April 4, 2015 at 7:35 amwhy don’t we see bands/strands of just gray or just yellow in your ball of yarn?
Heidi
April 5, 2015 at 6:32 pmI cut most of the fabric perpendicular to the stripes, so the bands of solid grey & yellow are just hidden within the pictured ball of yarn. To see the project I made with the yarn pictured, see this post.
Sarah
January 5, 2016 at 10:45 amHi Heidi
This is brilliant!
Thank you so much.
Sarah
Corinne Sweetin
April 26, 2016 at 3:08 pmLove this!!! I actually have a bunch of old jersey sheets I was saving for drop cloths. Nun-uhh! Not any more! 😉
Loved the tote pattern too! Thank you!! ☺️
rena visser
June 6, 2016 at 9:09 amWhy not just remove the needles from your serger and use that to cut the fabric in strips? I’ve done it and it works wonderful – and fast.
Heidi
June 7, 2016 at 10:39 amIf I had a serger that would be easier for sure!
Ivy
August 20, 2016 at 11:40 amHi Heidi
Your yarn looks beautiful. I tried out the method but had a lot of problems with the corners. No matter how I pulled, the corners won’t curl in nicely. It just stuck out. So the necklace project I tried to make look kind of awkward with parts sticking out…
Please help! Thanks! 😃
Heidi
August 26, 2016 at 8:53 amThis technique works best with knit jersey fabrics. If your fabric isn’t curling, cutting it into narrower strips should help for a necklace project. :)
Anuchida Kawashima
October 7, 2016 at 7:02 pmHi Heidi,
I have problem with my crochet bag project. When I pulled the corner part is seem weird or twisted in different direction. Can you pls advise? Thanks in advance.
Heidi
October 9, 2016 at 12:17 pmCould you send me a picture of the issue you’re having? I’m happy to see if I can figure it out. :) -Heidi
Lori
October 21, 2016 at 11:58 pmIt makes sense that it would do that because it is a different grain. Heidi, did you have that problem?. Would it be better to make strips straight on yardage and then sew together?
Heidi
October 23, 2016 at 11:11 amIt’s up to you. Joining fabric yarn can be a pain and result in you having two layers of fabric a the join, which also results in places with different thickness. It all depends on your desire to weave in ends and the finished look you’re hoping for. :)
Angela Faraguna
November 11, 2016 at 1:27 pmThanks for the tip . I’ve read a lot of sewing tutorials online where there was a tremendous amount of work involved in making one continuous piece of fabric. This looks a lot easier!
Meredith Patterson
March 30, 2017 at 7:52 amHow do you get it to roll with the right side of the fabric out? It always seems to curl with the ugly side out. Does that make sense?
Heidi
March 30, 2017 at 10:20 amUnfortunately, that’s the nature of knit fabric. If you’ve ever knit something in stockinette stitch, aka knit one row, purl one row when you’re working flat, you’ll know that a characteristic of that is curled edges that you need to work around. Most knit fabric is a tiny equivalent of stockinette stitch, so when it’s cut, there’s curl to it. My best advice is to work with a fabric that has a decent looking “wrong side.” Solids are great for this!
Janie Snyder
June 16, 2017 at 11:28 pmI have been searching for an answer to this same issue. I have so many pieces of knit clothing I’d love to make into yarn, but the “white” side (back) always seems to wind up on the outside of the “curl.” However, I recently purchased a “shred” scarf from a company who has apparently figured out a way to get the knit to roll the other way, so that the “good” side is out. It seems to be slightly stiff with some sort of sizing. Also, I purchased another scarf from a big-box store that was strips of knit fabric braided together. Again, the “good” side was on the outside of the curl. What is the secret??? I’d love to know.
Heidi
June 17, 2017 at 10:49 amThey are probably somehow creating the fabric somewhat differently. It’s just like when you knit in stockinette stitch and it curls inward toward the knit side. Since the fabric you’re cutting is knit, it curls inward toward toward that knit side as well.
DILCIA
February 15, 2019 at 4:03 pmThanks for the comments, but i guess there’s no solution to this. I also purchase beautiful fabrics with the idea of making yarn fabric.