Skirt From Recycled T-Shirts

I like to sew recycled clothing- it's cheap, low-pressure sewing. As far as I can figure, you either make something cool or you get rid of  some clothes you never wore anyway!

This is a recycled-t-shirt skirt I made for a friend. It's a tiered, patchwork skirt. The pattern is adjustable for however much fabric you have (within certain minimums).

This skirt used 6-7 women's t-shirts. I only used the parts that were solid colors. Your needs will depend on the size, cut, and style of the shirts, and the skirt you hope to produce.

Cut them all into rectangles. Mine were mostly six inch squares, but you can introduce some variation in width as long as the height of each rectangle is the same.

Figure out how you want your pieces to go together.
The important thing here is that the top piece is about the size of your waist (so if you have a 25" waist, your top row should be 25" across). You will lose some fabric to seams, but that's good because the fabric is stretchy and it will make a secure waistband.
The other important point is that the width of rows should increase as you approach the hem of the skirt.
In the picture, the right side is the top of the skirt and the left will be the hem.

Sew a basting stitch (as long as your sewing machine will let you) around the top of each fabric circle (except the top one, which will be on your waist). Pull on the top thread to gather until the fabric is the same size as the fabric above it. Sew together.

Double over the waistband to the inside of the skirt (see pictures). The edge of the top row should just cover the first gathered seam. Sew.

When you were harvesting the fabric, you ended up with a bunch of leftover pieces, including the hem of the shirts. You can make a belt to match your skirt!
Cut the loop of the hem so that it's one long ribbon of hem.

Cool! It's a belt!

You now have new clothes and a fun sewing project, and you don't have to hold on to those old t-shirts anymore!