Braided Tee Shirt Bangles

These Braided Tee Shirt Bangles from Amanda Formaro are a great way to use up old tee shirts.  You can mix and match fabrics with your friends to create unique handmade bracelet designs that you can mix, match, trade, and share!  So don't toss those T's. Put them to good use with these crafty and fun braided bangles. A summer camp essential, this t-shirt craft idea is a smart and eco-friendly take on the ever-popular friendship bracelet!

Looking absolutely stunning with brightly colored t-shirts, you could easily make a subtler bracelet by choosing light hues or even made something a little more manly with neutral or dark colors. If you don’t have a ton of tees laying around, consider using other scraps of fabric.

Materials:

• T-shirts
• Bangle bracelets
• White craft glue
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun

Instructions:

1. Note: Because the braided material will make the opening of the bangle smaller, it's important to get bracelets that are big enough to allow room for your wrist to get through the finished bracelet. For example, due to my plus size frame, my wrists are considerably larger than my teenage daughter's. Therefore, the bracelets fit her great while I was unable to get them on.
    
2. First you'll want to cut your t-shirt material into strips. My strips were about 16 inches long. The material will stretch as well, making them considerably longer.
   
   
    
3. To create a simple single colored bangle, first stretch the material out, tie the t-shirt strip in a loose knot around the bracelet.
   
   
    
4. Wrap the material tightly around the bangle. If you run out of material before you get to the end, simply hot glue another strip to the end of your current strip and continue.
   
   
    
5. When you arch the end, untie the first knot and tie the two loose ends together. Tie them tight and position the knot on the inside of the bangle, cut the ends and secure with some white craft glue.
    
6. To make braided bracelets, gather SIX strips of material, 2 of each color you wish to use. It's best to choose contrasting colors. I used four tie-dyed strips and two white strips for one bracelet, and for the other I used two each gray, tie-dye, and pink.
   
   
    
7. Use a hot glue gun to attach two matching strips, end to end to make one long strip. Repeat for the others. Stretch out the material, taking care not to pull them apart where they are glued. Tie the three strips together in a loop knot, leaving a couple of inches above the knot.
    
8. Braid the strips together. When you get to the end, wrap in a rubber band or tie with some scrap fabric (only temporary). Wrap the braid tightly around the bangle. When you reach the end, loosen the knots on both ends and tie together. Secure the knot with white craft glue. Trim the fringed ends to a length that you like.
   
   

Check out the rest of our how to make bracelet tutorials.