Easy no-sew T-shirt bracelets tutorial

Leggi questo post in: Italiano

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

In the years that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve collaborated with lots of other blogs and websites. And today I’m so pleased to announce that I’m starting a new collaboration with the Italian handmade learning website Make It Land! I will contribute an eco-friendly refashioning tutorial every month for my special column of sorts called “Refashion Cafè” and, seeing as the website is only in Italian, I will publish the tutorial in English here on Cucicucicoo for everyone to enjoy!

I decided to start off with a very simple refashion that anybody can do, even if she doesn’t know how to sew, crochet or do any other sort of handmade crafting: no-sew T-shirt bracelets!

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

The idea is pretty similar to the no-sew t-shirt sleeve necklace tutorial that I published a few years ago, except it uses a different part of the t-shirt and I’ve figured out a better way to bind all the strips together.

These bracelets are ridiculously easy to make and it’ll take you about two minutes to make one, but they’re still really cute, especially when you make them colorful and with matching necklaces! I love wearing these in the summer because they’re light and don’t stick to my skin like most other accessories.

They’re also a great gift and, because you just use old t-shirts and they’re so fast to make, you can whip some up for all of your friends!

Want to find out how? Then keep on reading for the t-shirt bracelets tutorial!

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

Materials:

  • a part of the torso of a t-shirt, preferably without side seams (main color)
  • a strip of any part of a t-shirt cut in the direction of greatest stretch (contrast binding color)
  • safety pin
  • cutting mat* (not shown) and rotary cutter* (highly suggested) OR sharp fabric shears

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

Main Color:

1. Lay out the main color t-shirt and smooth out any wrinkles. Use the rotary cutter or fabric shears to cut off the bottom hem. As you can see, you don’t need the whole shirt, just a small strip from the torso. Here I’m using a scrap left over from a girlified t-shirt.

2. Measure about 2 cm from cut made in step 1. You can eyeball it, but it looks nicer if it’s an even cut.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

3. Cut across the torso, making a 2 cm-wide strip.

4. Open up the strip and gently tug on the two ends to stretch it out.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

Contrast Color:

5. Lay out the contrast color t-shirt and smooth out any wrinkles. Use the rotary cutter or fabric shears to cut a strip 2 cm wide and roughly 20 cm long.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

6. Stick the safety pin into one end of the contrast strip.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

Assemble the bracelet:

7. Start wrapping and looping the stretched-out main color t-shirt strip around your wrist.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

8. Continue as many times as feels comfortable until the whole strip is wrapped around. It should be somewhat snug, but loose enough to be able to slip it over the hand.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

9. Slip the fingers of your other hand (or a helper’s hand, as you see here!) under the loops and pull gently to even out the loops. This is to make sure that there aren’t any loops that are tighter or looser than others.

Remove the loops from your hand.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

10. Position the end of the contrast strip without the safety pin perpendicularly to the loops. I suggest folding one edge in slightly to keep the end from slipping out from underneath the contrast binding. (top)

Wrap the contrast strip around and around the loops to hold them in place. (bottom) I prefer the look of wrapping around the same place as opposed to making a wider binding as seen in the t-shirt sleeve necklace tutorial.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

11. When the binding is tight enough to hold the strips in place, slip the safety pin underneath the contrast binding (top), and pull it out on the other side, pulling gently (bottom).

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

Trim off the end of the contrast binding strip and you’re done! You can wear your bracelet with the contrast strip showing or not… it’s totally up to you!

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

If your t-shirt has seams, like the one above, line them up in one spot and wrap the contrast strip around them to hide them.

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

It takes much longer to explain how to make these little bracelets than to actually make them! And they use so little fabric, you can make one to match each of your outfits… and even your nail polish!

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

You could even snazz things up and use more than one color for the loops, or use just one color for both the loops and the binding strip.

These are the first bracelets that I made this way, but with a different binding method. I prefer the cleaner look of the binding wound in just one spot, not the wide binding shown here, but you can do whatever you prefer!

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

Isn’t that just so, so easy? I made some t-shirt bracelet and necklace sets for friends, using the two t-shirt sleeves for the necklace and a strip from the bottom of the shirt for the bracelet. These are great gifts!

Got some old tees? Turn them into these super easy no-sew t-shirt bracelets! The tutorial shows you how to in less than two minutes! www.cucicucicoo.com

Now brace yourself for the onslaught of compliments that you’ll get on your fun and funky colorful accessories!

(And no, I didn’t cut my hair again. These pictures are from October, which is why I’m also still tanned in them!)

DIY beaded t-shirt necklace! Full tutorial on www.cucicucicoo.com

If you liked this T-shirt bracelets tutorial, make sure to check out my beaded T-shirt necklace DIY!

*This post contains some affiliate links.

13 thoughts on “Easy no-sew T-shirt bracelets tutorial”

  1. I love these! I am always looking for ways to use up jersey scraps and not only does this sort that problem, but it also means matching jewellery! Great idea. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Haha! I don’t have many colors of nail polish, but when I noticed that I had the same color as that bracelet/necklace set, I painted them on purpose to match! 🙂

      Reply

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