Thrift store hack: This woman unravels Goodwill sweaters to make her own yarn
TikTok creator Emilee, @ourshieldmaiden, is getting attention for unraveling thrift store sweaters to repurpose the yarn.
The needlework and yarn enthusiast shared a video on Aug. 26, 2025, that showed how a thrifted sweater can go from a rack at Goodwill to a ball of yarn ready for reuse.
After purchasing the 100% cotton sweater for $5.99, Emilee demonstrated how to “unsweater” a sweater by pulling a length of yarn from the garment and winding it into a ball with a hand-cranked yarn ball winder.
The post went viral with 3.2 million views, impressing TikTok users who “didn’t know this was an option.”
Much of the content shared on Emilee’s TikTok account shows how salvaging textiles for reuse can offset waste. In a post from Oct. 15, 2025, she revealed that plenty of clothing donated to resale shops ends up in landfills.
“Only 25% of clothing donated to thrift stores actually sells," read the onscreen text. The videos resonate with both budget-conscious and environmentally concerned social media users, learning about the cost-effective materials reuse hack.
“I was having anxiety and doom scrolling and this helped. Thanks.”
"Unsweatering" hack turns old sweaters into something new
Emilee wrote, “Free will is making yarn balls out of a thrift store sweater” in onscreen text over clips that showed how a sweater can go from the thrift store to a fresh ball of yarn.
@ourshieldmaiden Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️ 🥰 #froggingyarn #yarntok #yarn #crocheting #knitting ♬ original 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 post with 893 thousand views.
@ourshieldmaiden Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️ #yarn #crochet #knit #knitting #yarntok ♬ original sound - Ketso
Veteran knitters in the comments shared that they, too, deconstruct knitwear to use as material or to sell 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, did not immediately reply to the Daily Dot's request for comment via TikTok.
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