March Madness (cheapskate style)

Did you know that the S.U. Orange mascot is named "Otto" ?

In our house we’re Syracuse University basketball fans!  Especially since we’re not in Syracuse anymore, I feel like I need a way to show my school support during the NCAA tournament, without being TOO obvious.

Enter this cool idea that I found for making necklaces out of my new favorite medium—t-shirts.  It wasn’t my plan all along to make an SU necklace—it just sort of happened.  I was in the dollar store, looking for a couple of glass vases to make another pair of hurricanes for my sister, when I walked by a bin of t-shirts, and right on top—the prefect orange t-shirt.  And in the other corner of the bin—the prefect blue t-shirt.  It was like it was fate, so I bought them knowing I’d find a fun craft to do with them to show my SU pride.

I was slightly worried that this particular project wouldn’t work because the t-shirts were different sizes, but…. I was wrong—it worked just fine!

Here is my new SU necklace.

And here’s how I did it.

Lay the t-shirt out flat on a flat surface.  You need to make sure it’s pretty straight and that the edges line up together.  If you were smart, you’d probably iron the shirt flat, but… well… I don’t iron unless I absolutely HAVE to.

First you have to cut off the bottom hem of the t-shirt(s).

Then cut 1 to 1 ½ “ strips straight across the body of the shirt (cut through both layers at once)—these will create large loops (that is what you want).

They don’t have to be perfect (thank goodness) because when you stretch them they will roll up and you’ll never know.

Try not to pull at the material too hard as you’re cutting/working with it because before the next step you want to have flat (not rolled) strips of fabric.

FYI:  I cut 6 or 7 strips to make one necklace.  You can experiment with number of strips for a thinner or fuller necklace.  As you can see-- it leaves a lot of extra fabric for more projects!!

Once you’ve cut all your strips, gather them together and put your hands trough each end of the loop.  Do all strips together at the same time.  Then you’ll stretch them out and the fabric will roll under itself- creating these little “tubes”.  (Note:  the following photos are for show only)

Also of note, the t-shirt tubes roll "inside out", so if you have an old t-shirt with a pen mark or small stain on it, you might still be able to use it for this type of project because it's actually the wrong side that you see. (and why it probably wouldn't work well with a patterned t-shirt)

 The reason you want to stretch all of your strips at the same time is so that they all end up the same length.  This is especially important if you’re using t-shirts of different sizes.

Aaannnndddd….. that’s it.  It literally takes 5 minutes to make this necklace.

And you can experiment with different ways to wear the necklace.

Wear it long.

Wear it doubled up for a shorter/fuller look.

You can also try various knots etc.  I’m tempted at some point to try braiding the fabric tubes (cutting one end so that it becomes 1 long straight tube) to see if that’s at all interesting.  If I do it, I’ll be sure to let you all see the finished product.

And sometimes you just have to be a little more ‘in your face’ with your support of your team….

Go Orange!

edit:  SU just lost.  (and this post was supposed to happen yesterday when the game was on, but my internet was all wonky yesterday) Guess I'll have to put away my new necklace until next year....