DIY: Braided Trivet with T-Shirt Yarn

There are too many t-shirts in this world.

Why do we have so many t-shirts, I wonder, as I load the washing machine, every other day. Everyone we know brings back t-shirts from their fun filled vacations and sporting events…like we really would rather wear their t-shirts from their vacations than going on vacations with them.

Sorry Mom! But I really don’t want to remember your vacation to Cancun by wearing a t-shirt that says “Cancun“. You know what would be a better present? Taking me to Cancun with you! (Oh, she’s gonna kill me for saying this.)

Needless to say, some end up in donation piles a few times a year. Shhhh….don’t tell my mom. But some get cut into fabric yarn – remember my tutorial on making fabric yarn with t-shirts? – and I make various things for the house …. like coasters and trivets. I normally crochet them but this time, I wanted to braid them.

So here is my tutorial on how to braid a trivet or a coaster, depending on how big you want them to be.

Oh, you might be asking, “Why a tutorial on braiding?” And “don’t everyone know how to braid?”, you might say.

Well, not everyone has long hair or played with dolles or have girls in the family. So, there are those who never braided anything, let alone, make a coaster!

But even if you know how, you’ll want to finish reading this tutorial because braiding a long fabric yarn gets a bit tricky. I’ll show you how you can make it easier.

Here we go. Click the images to enlarge.

How to make a braided trivet or a coaster

Easy, right? It’s bringing the right strand over to the left and left one over to the right, alternating, until the end. The above picture is pretty self-explanatory. When you are done with braiding the whole strand, it’s time to coil the braid into a round shape, like a coaster or a trivet.

Now, wasn’t that easy peasy? Bet you can whip one up easily while watching the Kardashians on T.V. At least you are being (more) productive than they!

So how cool is converting old unwanted t-shirts into something you can use?

Or if you know how to use a sewing machine, you can sew around the coil. The trivet gets a bit thicker and sturdier when you sew on the machine.

The tricky part on braiding

When I made this trivet, do you know what the hardets part was? Keeping the fabric yarn untangled. See this mess?

On my next post, I’ll show you how I kept the yarn from getting tangled.

Hope you’ll try this project this weekend. Bet you can find some t-shirts to make awesome trivets and coasters with all your cheesy souvenir t-shirts you never wore. Heck, you can keep adding more shirts and make a rug, if you have family and friends like mine who keep going on vacations, leaving you behind!

Have you braided a trivet or a coaster like this?