How to Cut Up Clothing

Cutting up clothing can give it new life.

Instead of throwing out old, outdated clothes, cut them up and re-purpose them. With a few cuts here and there, you can turn a formerly unused t-shirt into something trendy and fashionable. You can cut pair of old jeans and turn them into shorts. Even if the item requires too much work to be practical, you can keep the large scraps and use them for a project in the future.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors
• Pencil
• Hot glue
• Silk flowers
• Box

Instructions

1. 

   Update an old t-shirt by getting rid of the collar and hems.

   Give an old t-shirt new life by cutting it up and giving it a more modern, lived-in look. Start with the neckline. With a sharp pair of scissors, cut off the collar just below the collar's seam. After you have removed the collar, stretch the neckline, and you will see that the jersey immediately rolls. Next, Cut the sleeve hems just above the seam line. Again, if you stretch the sleeves, the ends will roll. Cut the bottom hem just below the hem line. You will have two raw ends instead of just one, but leaving the seam will keep your shirt from rolling up or sticking out to the side.

2. 

   Convert holey jeans into shorts.

   Cut off an old pair of jeans to make cutoffs. Put the jeans on and decide how long you'd like them to be. While still wearing the jeans, draw a line on one of the pant legs with a pencil in the spot where you'd like to cut. If you want to roll up a cuff, add 1 to 2 inches more. Take the jeans off and cut along the line you drew. Fold the jeans in half so the cut leg is on top of the uncut leg. Use the cut leg as your guide while you cut the other leg. Wash the jeans to let them fray and enjoy your new pair of shorts.

3. 

   Convert an old full-length skirt into a fairy costume.

   Cut up an old full-length skirt to make a fairy-like costume. Use a pencil to draw a line 16 to 18 inches below the waistline. Cut 2-inch strips from the bottom hem up to the line you drew. After you've cut the strips all the way around, randomly cut some of the strips shorter than others. For a fairy-like effect, hot glue or sew silk flowers to some of the strips.

4. 

   Cut up old clothes for future use in a patchwork quilt.

   Disassemble clothing to use for making a quilt. In the past, people made quilts from old clothing that didn't fit anymore. Patchwork was invented to make the most of small fabric scraps. To prepare old clothing for patchwork quilts, cut all seams out of clothing and iron the remaining scraps. Cut the scraps into pieces prescribed by the patchwork's pattern and sew them into quilt blocks, which you then sew into an entire quilt.

5. 

   Remove seams before putting old clothes in your fabric scrap box.

   Cut up unused clothing to use for projects. Keep your clothing fabric scraps in a box for future use. When you want to make throw pillows, headbands, flower pins, hair accessories, craft projects, place mats or napkins, look through your box of fabric scraps before heading to the fabric store. Your fabric scrap box can save you time and money.

Tips & Warnings

• Use sharp scissors, especially when cutting denim.

References

• 1 T-Shirt World: How to Cut Up T-Shirts in 4 Steps
• Willotoons: How to Cut Your Tee
• Time Out Chicago: 7 Steps to Make the Perfect Cutoffs
• Planet Green: How to Make a Quilt from Your Old Clothes