Melissa Somerville’s experiments with T-yarn, or "tarn", began with a child’s jump-rope. She knit the colorful I-cord rope from T-yarn for her youngest daughter and loved everything about it. T-yarn is machine washable, durable and environmentally friendly; qualities that any mother can appreciate. And it is her desire to leave a healthier earth for her children that fuels her enthusiasm for making and selling T-yarn, the designs she creates for it, and her willingness to teach others how to make it for themselves.
"We live in such a throw-away society-there is a seemingly inexhaustible supply of discarded T-shirts to be re-used," she said. When asked if it might not be a good idea to teach others how to make her product, she responds, "I really want to generate as much interest in the whole concept of up-cycled yarn as I can." Designing patterns for T-yarn is another passion; her Up-cycled Oven Mitt is just the first of many she is working on. She hopes her enthusiasm for transforming discarded items into useful, functional objects will inspire others to think before tossing another T-shirt into the trash.
She’s learned a few things about making t-yarn in the past two years. And since she decided to try selling her up-cycled yarn, thrift shops and garage sales are now her favorite haunts; most days she can bring home as many as 50 shirts. The first thing she looks for in a shirt is a seamless, tubular construction. The technique of spiral-cutting makes any side seam a weak link in the yarn that leads to breaks and knots. Pima and organic cotton are her favorites, but any cotton shirt- even a 50/50 cotton and polyester blend- will do. She won’t use anything with spandex in her yarn; experience has taught her it does not work well. And she’s discovered that patterned fabric can make interesting yarn as long as the print is the same inside and out. White shirts can be dyed and colored shirts over-dyed if a certain color is desired. Melissa hasn’t found a way yet to use natural dyes to successfully color cotton; acid dyes like Deka or Procion work best for her, and she thinks dyeing the shirt before she cuts it into yarn gives the best results.
Once the shirts are washed and dyed (if desired,) she is ready to cut. Very few materials are needed to make T-yarn, just a pair of sharp layer-cutting scissors and a ruler will do. Melissa’s early experiments using a rotary wheel cutter and mat didn’t go well, but with practice she’s learned this is the fastest way to make large amounts of t-yarn. She begins by laying the shirt out flat on her cutting surface, and making sure it is free of wrinkles. Next, she cuts the upper part of the shirt off at the armpits and sets that aside (the upper part of the shirt is donated to JujuGear, a Montana company that makes clothing from recycled t-shirts.) This leaves her with a tube of fabric.
She lays the tube flat on her surface with the "folded" edges on the top and bottom, and the open edges of the tube on either side. The hem of the shirt is cut off and discarded at this point.
Beginning at the lower end and working towards the upper, she folds the shirt roughly in thirds, leaving about 2" of the bottom layer sticking out at the top edge (see photo above).
Next, it is time to measure and mark the cut lines. She recommends using a ruler to measure the distance between cuts, and the width used all depends on the weight of yarn being made. Typically, quarter inch cuts create a worsted yarn; mark at every half inch for bulky weight yarn. The smallest successful cuts she has made so far were about a centimeter apart; this yields an aran/DK weight yarn with a nubby texture. Once she decides on the weight she is making, she cuts each line from the bottom fold to the top through all of the layers, stopping about an inch short of the uppermost fold (the one that sticks out from underneath).
Once she has made her tick-marks, she cuts each line from the bottom fold to the top through all of the layers, stopping about an inch short of the uppermost fold (the one that sticks out from underneath).
The next step after making all of the cuts is to do the final spiral-cut. The tube is picked up and slipped over the forearm, with the uncut portion lying across the top of her arm (at this point it looks a little like a hula skirt.) She is then ready to make the first, most important cut. Slipping the scissors between the first cut strips at the left edge of the fabric, she brings the blades up through the solid fabric at a left-leaning slant, cutting diagonally to the outer edge of the fabric. Next, she inserts the scissors into the lower edge of the second cut line, and cuts upwards at the same angle, this time meeting the top of the first cut line. She continues working across the tube in this fashion to the right side until the last strip, finishing with a right-leaning cut to the outer right edge of the fabric. This creates a continuous length of yarn which can be left flat for ribbon work, or pulled like taffy to create a long, smooth cord. The yarn is then twisted into hank-style skeins for storage.
After making a few hundred skeins of T-yarn, Melissa offered a few tips for others interested in recycling t-shirts into yarn. She doesn’t like washing or dyeing the yarn after it is cut and before it is knitted, it may just be her washing machine and the local hard water, but the strips don’t hold up well on their own. Fortunately, once it is worked up, the fabric created is machine washable and very durable, just like a T-shirt. Another downside, the yarn sheds a cottony “dandruff” until the project is washed the first time. Also, dye lots don’t exist when working with recycled t-shirts, even when they are hand dyed; variations in the original fabric create subtle changes in color, so it’s best to alternate the skeins every couple of rows while you work to help eliminate any unwanted striping effect.
Melissa is having a great time making and knitting with her T-yarn, and also with finding other applications for it. It works well used as a ribbon for embellishments, and is also fun to use to appliqué designs onto other fabrics. She is currently experimenting with transforming other fabrics into up-cycled yarns as well, and having some success with using recycled bed linens for use in rag rugs. Designing patterns for T-yarn is another passion of Melissa’s; her Up-cycled Oven Mitt pattern is just one of many she has available. She hopes her crusade to reincarnate discarded items into useful, functional objects will inspire others to think before buying another T-shirt they don’t really need.
