{"id":80,"date":"2026-09-14T02:18:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/?p=80"},"modified":"2026-09-14T02:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:30:17","slug":"inspiration-upcycling-old-t-shirts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/2026\/09\/14\/inspiration-upcycling-old-t-shirts\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiration: Upcycling Old T-Shirts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TL;DR<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What if we cut up old T-shirts at the public library?<\/li>\n<li>There&#8217;s something forbidden-feeling about cutting into a T-shirt, but I think it&#8217;s a good exercise. The Hyperlinked Library subverts hierarchy and doesn&#8217;t get stuck on the way things have always been done. The old library is a sentimental old T-shirt no one wishes to wear anymore. Change is scary, the first scissor cut is scary. But then it&#8217;s fun. The ambiguity of the outcome, the joy of creating. Believe in the journey! Make the new thing. I think this activity would help a lot of library staff and patrons get on board with the spirit of the Hyperlinked Library being one of change.<\/li>\n<li>Here&#8217;s how my DIY dog rope toy made from old T-shirts turned out: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DdQumc4vUgR\/\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DdQumc4vUgR\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Program Ideas for Imaginary Public Library:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Partnering with a local organization interested in reducing fabric waste, patrons would be provided old T-shirts or can bring their own. Tutorials could be provided, along with keyword search suggestions for finding more videos. Not every library has the means to get a sewing machine program started, but old T-shirts and scissors are easy to find!<\/li>\n<li>Crossover with fans of music genres and concertgoers that want to upcycle their band T-shirts. The library could promote music resources with a library card or compile a list of local karaoke spots.<\/li>\n<li>The library could enlist patrons who want to break a world record of making the longest T-Shirt rope ever, and brainstorming the imaginative use for such a thing. Perhaps the youth yearn for a life-sized pirate ship made of other upcycled things, let&#8217;s ask them.<\/li>\n<li>Partner with Reading with Rover somehow where students can keep their hands busy with making ropes while listening to a storyteller read a novel. (I found myself doing this very activity today, weaving a rope out of old T-shirts, while listening to readings in this class.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Where did this idea come from?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>My husband and I had some old T-shirts that were sentimental to us but that we no longer wish to wear. Resistant to throwing them away, I decided this would be the perfect time to learn a new craft. I use Instagram over Google as a search engine when it comes to DIY tutorials. I can quickly find dozens of designs from different people showing me how they cut their old T-shirts, no sewing involved. I wondered if men and women cut their T-shirts differently. I wondered if I could cut a T-shirt for my dog. That&#8217;s how I landed on this tutorial on how to make a dog toy rope out of old T-shirts! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZgHqbXSb-n\/\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZgHqbXSb-n\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>What other things can I make out of T-shirts, I wondered? Coasters? Rugs?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TL;DR What if we cut up old T-shirts at the public library? There&#8217;s something forbidden-feeling about cutting into a T-shirt, but I think it&#8217;s a good exercise. The Hyperlinked Library subverts hierarchy and doesn&#8217;t get stuck on the way things have always been done. The old library is a sentimental old T-shirt no one wishes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":889,"featured_media":81,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/86"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/innerchildlibrarian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}