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EFA's Dog Days Festival
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Tees into Tuggy Toys
Reuse, Recycle, Make Your Dog Happy !
Tutorial by YarnMiracle
Everybody has a few unworn t-shirts drifting around in the back of a drawer. Why not give them new life by transforming them into dog toys with the help of this photo tutorial from Yarn Miracle ?
For this project, all you will need is a couple t-shirts and a pair of scissors (please remove any cats before continuing). I was able to make two big toys from three large t-shirts.
To get started, cut the hems off of the shirts.
The body of the shirt is the part that is used for this project, so cut a 6 inch wide piece off of the shirt straight across the bottom (this will actually look like a big loop). For a smaller toy, make the pieces skinnier. Repeat this step until there are three pieces of fabric.
Cut open each loop to make a long strip of fabric.
Locate your assistant if your arms aren't long enough, and give each strip a good stretch...
...so that they roll up into a tube. Jersey knits LOVE to roll.
Line up the strips, and tie a tight overhand knot at one end.
Get your assistant to come back and hold the knot while you braid the strips together (just like hair). Never braided anything? Nothing to it - here's a tutorial.
Stop when it's as long as you like or you have about six inches of loose fabric left.
Tie an overhand knot to secure the loose ends and trim them with the scissors. If the braid is nice and long, another knot can be made in the center.
Your toy is ready to share with your dog! (That's actually our former foster dog, Chickpea - but we've got a couple puppies as house guests right now.)
If you don't have a resident dog (or you have a surplus of t-shirts), make a whole pile of them to take to your local shelter!
