After making quilts, skirts, tank tops, and re-usable grocery bags, you have a pile of t-shirt sleeves. What do you do with them all?
Here are five ways you can use them up.
1. Cloth Napkins
These are sleeves you actually want your kiddos to wipe their noses and mouths with. Put out a basket of new ones and a basket for dirty ones on the kitchen table. Or you can use them as a hankie too and carry one in your purse instead of tissues.
Next >> Pouches









i think i’m kind of becoming obsessed with having little pouches for things… i’m almost giddy over this idea!!!!
Cool! pouches are so practical. I love ‘em too! And you can make drawstring out of t-shirt yarns – made from t-shirt scraps. No waste crafting is where is at!!
i’ve also seen the use of t-shirt sleeves to make infant hats… i’ve used the bottoms of t-shirts for this before once my little guy was older, but i never made them when his noggin’ was small enough to use the sleeves. great idea, though!
That would be really cute! Yeah, you would have to make them before they are born, I guess. Great idea!
I think the sleeves make great headbands! You can leave the sleeves open wide to make a wide headband, or allow it to roll up to make a skinny headband. I use 3/4 length headbands to wear like a bandana to protect my crazy fair skin and scalp from the sun when I am in the garden or at the water park.
Hi Tiffany, You mean leave the sleeves intact and you can squeeze your head into the hole as a headband? I never tried that thinking my big fat head wouldn’t fit! Gotta try that now. Thanks for the tip!
Thank you for this posting. It will really help me use ALL parts of a co-workers t-shirts as gifts for his family.
I have used the whole short sleeve for a cover for my head when I went fishing. It kept my head from getting cold. My husband did alot of laughing that day! Haha
Put one sleeve inside out inside another one, sew bottom seam up, turn inside out and sew raw edges together. Then add velcro or snaps. You’ve made an icepack sleeve!
Pockets, strips for bracelets, I also often use the hem edges as giant rubber bands if they’ve still got some stretch, or plant ties
[...] craftingagreenworld’s draw-string pouch I so want to make these to keep my hair out of my face when I’m washing it at night, but they are also cute enough to wear when I don’t feel like styling my hair before heading out. [...]
the end of the sleeve can make a cute and easy skirt for a doll. so many cuff sizes for every doll size. cut the raw edge with pinking shears, or cut in scallops. if necessary can cut a small slit in the cuff end for a string.
also make tiny puppy sweaters. use cuff for neck end and cut little holes for the legs.
also make bandages for pups. have fun. pauline