“$7 cotton sweaters = $40 of high-quality yarn.”

TikTok creator Emilee, @ourshieldmaiden, is getting consideration for unraveling thrift retailer sweaters to repurpose the yarn.

Featured Video

The needlework and yarn fanatic shared a video on Aug. 26, 2025, that confirmed how a thrifted sweater can go from a rack at Goodwill to a ball of yarn prepared for reuse.

After buying the 100% cotton sweater for $5.99, Emilee demonstrated how you can “unsweater” a sweater by pulling a size of yarn from the garment and winding it right into a ball with a hand-cranked yarn ball winder.

The publish went viral with 3.2 million views, impressing TikTok customers who “didn’t know this was an option.” 

Much of the content material shared on Emilee’s TikTok account exhibits how salvaging textiles for reuse can offset waste. In a publish from Oct. 15, 2025, she revealed that loads of clothes donated to resale outlets leads to landfills.

“Only 25% of clothing donated to thrift stores actually sells,” learn the onscreen textual content. The movies resonate with each budget-conscious and environmentally involved social media customers, studying in regards to the cost-effective supplies reuse hack.

“I was having anxiety and doom scrolling and this helped. Thanks.”

“Unsweatering” hack turns previous sweaters into one thing new

Emilee wrote, “Free will is making yarn balls out of a thrift store sweater” in onscreen textual content over clips that confirmed how a sweater can go from the thrift retailer to a contemporary ball of yarn.

@ourshieldmaiden Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️ 🥰 #froggingyarn #yarntok #yarn #crocheting #knitting ♬ unique sound – ||•~Yoriee Dump•~|| – user95460937742

“This is next level thrifting. I’m impressed. Wow.”

“That’s what you call repurposing.”

“..Instead of throwing away a thrifted sweater no one wanted to buy, you can give it a new life.”

“Reduce, reuse, recycle”—and unravel

On Oct. 14, 2025, Emilee shared the statistic that “11 million tons of clothing waste goes to landfills in the USA each year,” in a publish with 893 thousand views.

@ourshieldmaiden Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️ #yarn #crochet #knit #knitting #yarntok ♬ unique sound – Ketso

Veteran knitters within the feedback shared that they, too, deconstruct knitwear to make use of as materials or to promote as recycled yarn.

“Thrift stores don’t even sell half of what gets donated to them; it all goes right into the dumpster. Maybe you can ask your local thrift store to set aside some sweaters they don’t intend on reselling.”

“I do this! $7 cotton sweaters = $40 of high-quality yarn.”

Emilee, @ourshieldmaiden, didn’t instantly reply to the Daily Dot’s request for remark by way of TikTok.

The web is chaotic—however we’ll break it down for you in a single each day e-mail. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s e-newsletter right here.