Easy Upcycled Tshirt to Dog Toy

Intro: Easy Upcycled Tshirt to Dog Toy

I hate to waste anything so when I had some tshirt scraps left from my Upcycled Market Bag project, a lightbulb went off when I thought about my new puppy, Kiwi. I've seen some rope toys before, so I made her some with the scraps! 

(Sorry I couldn't get any good pics of Kiwi with her toy... she was moving too fast!)

STEP 1: What You'll Need:

Tshirt scraps (nice to have some contrasting colors)
Scissors
(An extra hand when you're braiding is helpful, but is not necessary)

STEP 2: Cutting Strips

Here's how to get the most strips possible out of this tshirt sleeves and scrap from the body.

Sleeves:
1. Cut off the sleeve right along the seam that connects it to the body. 
2. Cut the seam (where the armpit would be) and flatten the sleeve piece out.
3. Cut the edge seam off of flattened piece.
4. Cut the rest of the piece into strips that are 1" wide.
5. Stretch the strip so that it rolls and lengthens. 
6. Take the edge seam pieces and cut down the middle of the stitching.
7. Pull two edges of the tube open all the way to flatten the piece.
8. Hold piece over a trash can, grab the thread at the end and pull to remove all the little thread fringes (now you've got a strip to use!)

Body:
1. Cut as many strips as you can from the front and back of the body piece. 


Tip: you can save all the tiny scraps that are left in a little bag so that when you have enough, you can use it to stuff a dog bed or other project. 

STEP 3: Putting It Together

Yay, now you've got a whole bunch of strips to use! I also had some strips from a yellow tshirt, so I added them to the blue ones for this project.

You can use 6, 9, or more strips depending on how thick you want the toy to be and how long your strips are. The more strips you want to use, the longer they need to be to make it easier to tie off at the end, so play around with it. 

1. Take the bundle of strips and tie a tight knot at one end. 
2. Separate the strips into three groups and braid them. (For steps on how to braid, there are some great videos on youtube.) 
3. Stop braiding to leave about a 6" tail and tie another knot. I found that it was hard to tie the knot when the tail was shorter than that, but if you can swing it, then braid a little more.
4. If you w ant the tail to be the same length as the other side, then you can trim the strips, but I left it for Kiwi to play with. She's teething now and loves her new toy!! 

Comments

[jross28]

To be quite honest, I was a bit unsure of making one for my staffy, so I used 12 strands...It's perfect, Skye loves it, she's been running round the garden and throwing it about :) I also feel good knowing my old shirt is being loved again!

[purelily]

Awww, that picture just makes my heart sing! Thanks for sharing =)

[charlieanderin]

Is it bad for the dog if you dye the shirt with like type dye "paints" ?

[CookingWithRice]

I just did this project last night and it was so easy! Made 3 chew toys out of one shirt and the puppy loves it!

[purelily]

Yay, so happy you tried it and that your puppy loves it too! I'm making a few to bring for my mom's doggie next week =)

[BriannaRenee]

Vote because its a great idea and favorite because your dog is adorable?:D

[Emmy2786]

I don't have dogs myself, but my friend has 3. I just made 3 of these in about 20-30 minutes. Great idea.

[purelily]

Wow, that's gotta be record time! Your furry friends are lucky to have a sweet friend like you =)

[fluffy52601]

Cute!!!

[purelily]

Thanks!

[Finderzkeeperz]

I do something similar for our dogs with my old t-shirts. They just love it! I will definitely give this one a try too.

[purelily]

Ooo, you should write an instructable for your toy idea too!

[sunshiine]

Thanks for sharing! Our baby would love this! Have a great week!
sunshiine

[purelily]

Thanks sunshine!

[purelily]

Thanks!

[gracemihm]

I hate it when I have a old shirt and don't know what to do with it awesome idea I love dogs amazing idea :)

[purelily]

Thanks! My puppy liked the idea too ;-)