Kid Craft: Tennis Racket Butterfly Net

Make a Tennis Racket Butterfly Net

A kid’s tennis racket doesn’t always last too long (Why are they apparently so fun to hit rocks with?), and often it costs more to restring it than just replace it.

Instead of tossing that racket with the broken strings, or making your kid continue to play with a bad racket, buy your kid a new tennis racket that they PROMISE to treat right and let them use the old one to make themselves a butterfly net.

You will need:

  • broken tennis racket
  • sturdy scissors
  • scrap tulle
  • yarn and needle with a wide eye

1. Remove the old strings. A kid’s beginner tennis racket has janky plastic strings that the kid can cut off and unstring using a pair of sturdy kitchen scissors. This is also the perfect time to pretend to be a superhero who can punch through a tennis racket:

Make a tennis racket butterfly net

2. Measure and cut the tulle. Cut a length of tulle that is wider than the circumference of the tennis racket (you don’t need to measure this carefully), and as long as you’d like it to be plus about six inches. Shorter is more functional, but longer is more fun to wave around like a maniac butterfly hunter.

3. Sew the tulle into a tube. Overlap the ends of the tulle so that it forms a long tube, then have your kid sew a long backstitch down the length of this seam using yarn. It doesn’t have to be perfect!

4. Tie off one end of the tube. Have the kid cut another long length of yarn, then scrunch up one end of the tube and tie the yarn tightly around it to close it off. Tie the yarn into a cute bow.

5. Stitch the other end of the tube to the tennis racket. Feed the other end of the tube through the hole in the tennis racket, then fold the end down over the racket like a cuff, overlapping the tulle tube. Have the kid use yarn to sew a running stitch all the way around this cuff, sewing the tulle tube to itself with the tennis racket inside the seam:

Make a tennis racket butterfly net.

Your kid can decorate this new butterfly net, or grab it and go outside right away to chase butterflies.

And there’s your summer, all planned out!

NOTE: Now that you’ve bought your kid a new racket, set aside the time to either learn how to string a tennis racket yourself or make a friend who knows how, because yes, they’re totally going to continue to hit rocks, baseballs, tree limbs, and each other with their tennis rackets.

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