Recycled T-shirt Bracelets

 I recently got a Pinterest account. I am slightly addicted to it, and have to force myself away once I get started. I came across an adorable tutorial on making necklaces out of recycled T-shirts. I'm a simple girl. I don't like large jewelry, I don't like a lot of "Bling", patterns or expensive stuff. The necklace was a little too large for my taste, but I thought that it would make a a perfect bracelet! For some reason, I like a little bit of chunk on my wrists.

I've had a few shirts laying around that I saved just in case I came across a craft, such as this one. I also had 2 pair of pants that were too large for me, made out of the same material. I decided to dig them out and give the bracelet a try. I took my scissors and carefully cut the shirts/pants apart. Ok...so it was more like I hacked them apart, but you get the idea. I decided to go with Blue and Brown, because I love that color combination!

 

Once everything was taking apart and the seams where thrown away, I cut some 1/2 inch wide strips out. Honestly some were a little larger, and some were a little smaller. That's kind of the fun of this craft, perfection is not needed. I was making 3 separate braids to my bracelet, so in all I needed 9 strips. I stacked 3 strips on top of each other and sewed them together, then repeated with the other bunches. I hand sewed, but feel free to use a sewing machine.

 

Once they were sewed together it was time to braid. I pinned the bunches to my jeans, and did a simple braid long enough to wrap around my wrist. Then I sewed the other side together with a few stitches, looped the fabric into a circle, and sewed it shut. I wasn't too concerned with the stitching looking pretty because in the end it will be covered.

 

Repeat the process with all 3 bunches. Once I had my 3 finished, I sewed them together. I didn't want them slipping and sliding around, and showing my ever so lovely stitch job. If your stitching is prettier then mine, and you aren't embarrassed to show it off,  feel free to skip this step.

  
Next came the piece of fabric to cover the stitched up parts. I cut out a slip of fabric just a little wider then the area I need to cover, 
and just long enough to have some slack for sewing.

  
I hand sewed a stitch across the strip of fabric, as close to the bracelets as I could get it. 

 

 

I then cut off the excess fabric, and flipped the piece inside out, so the stitches were hidden. 

 

From there, I twisted the cover so that it was on the inside of my bracelet and the folds wouldn't be shown. I ended with a super cute bracelet, and an itch to make more...lots more. I have so much leftover fabric, who knows what or how many things I will create!