Easy Beanie

It happened when I was reorganizing my drawers of craft supplies I have shoved in a tall dresser. In that dresser, are scraps of clothing that didn’t quite work as anything other than scraps. Or, so I thought. I came across this sleeve. It was still in sleeve form, and had been a part of a t-shirt. It was long… a long tube of fabric. A part of me wondered if it would fit my giant skull. It did, but it could fit better. I trimmed the excess to where I believed the shirt would fit my head the best, and cut off the rest. Then, I added a string and strung off the top, leaving a little piece of fabric to act as a pompom. I tried it on my head.

It was the perfect beanie. 

It was the perfect beanie… that came from an old scrap of a long-sleeve t-shirt. 

Sometimes, I don’t know why I save things.

Other times, I don’t know why I save things, and then I end up happy that I kept something I didn’t think I would ever use. It makes a lot more sense than stocking up on reusable shopping bags I’ll never use again.

Maybe I should turn those into art, too.

All I knew was this was the best no-sew project for someone who has no idea how to sew, and loves to upcycle.

Maybe, someday I’ll learn how to sew. Until then, I’ll be making projects like this. What’s nice about making this was it looks exactly like a normal beanie when you put it on your head. It doesn’t quite look like it came from a t-shirt. I’m sure, depending on where you steal the sleeve from, that might still hold true.

For anyone else who has long-sleeve tees around, where the sleeves are just baggy enough and the fabric is perfectly stretchy, I hope you find this idea something you could use. There are many things I don’t know how to do, and sewing is one of them. Maybe, someday, I’ll become better at all of the things I don’t know how to do.

That’s the thing about DIY: you learn how to do what you don’t know how to do, and you build on your repertoire of knowledge until you know how to do what you didn’t before.

Just like all trades, DIY takes patience and knowing you don’t know everything because nobody could possibly know everything. We’re always learning and expanding on what we already know. So, who knows, maybe someday I’ll have the ability to sew. Until then, turning a stretchy long sleeve into a beanie is probably the proudest achievement I’ll have for a while. 

For anybody who loves an easy project, this could probably take ten minutes to put together, and then, you have a hat that looks like a hat… but is really a scrap of fabric from a shirt you know you’ll never wear.

It’s a good excuse to start collecting clothing you know you’ll never wear, but might make excellent crafting supplies to turn into something else. I know this project gives me hope for the rest of the drawer filled with scraps. Maybe, I’ll get lucky again.

Until then, I’m going to enjoy wearing an invention I’m proudest of.

I hope you use that shirt you never think you’ll wear and wear it as something else.