Refashioned t-shirt (REVERSIBLE & multi-look)

Hubby & I just went through our house and got rid of TONS of old clothes and other stuff.  Knowing my love for refashioning t-shirts, Hubby pulled a handful of old t's aside for me :)

I think this shirt turned out kind of fun, because it is REVERSIBLE and since it has a ribbon for straps, it can be tied several different ways, giving slightly different looks.

Here's the BEFORE:

The shirt was a bit roomy for me to say the least.  Oh, and I'm not sure I should admit this... but there were holes torn in the armpits of it (that probably explains my slightly creeped out face in this picture).

Anyways, here's how I refashioned this shirt:

1) Lay the shirt flat, and place a shirt that fits you well on top of it.  

2) Using the shirt that fits as a guide, cut the t-shirt (that's being refashioned) width to size. 

*Remember to add enough room for seam allowances*

*If the guide shirt has more or less stretch than the shirt you're refashioning, add/reduce your measurements as well*

3) Cut notches for armholes

4) On one side of the shirt (doesn't matter if it's the front or back piece, since it's reversible) cut a v neck (leaving 3-4 inches for each shoulder)

5) If you want to get rid of the logo  sew the pieces opposite of normal (making the previous "right side" of the fabric the new "wrong side"  the logo should be on the inside of the shirt in the end)

6) Turn the fabric at the armhole under and stitch a seam (remember, to make sure you're sewing on the proper side of the fabric if you're hiding a logo)

7) Repeat step 6 with the "v" shape cut out of one piece

8) Sew sides of shirt together, under the arm holes

9) Sew casings on the top edges of each piece (the straight top edge on the uncut side, and each of the 2 shoulder pieces on the side with the v cut)

10) Thread a long ribbon through the casings and tie it together.  There are tons of ways to thread and tie the straps, here are just a few examples:

Straight front with ribbon threaded twice

Straight front with ribbon threaded once

V-neck in front with bows tied on each shoulder

V-neck in front with ribbon threaded across and tied on one side

V cut out in back with simple bow

V cut out in back with ribbon threaded through and tied in front

Straight back with ribbon tied in front

There are lots of other ways to wear the shirt, or instead of ribbon it can have a more nautical look if you tie thin rope as the straps.

Refashioned t-shirt (worn out shirt with hole)

**Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY to have a chance to win some printable postcards!! (enter by Sept 9, 2011 at 11:59PM central time)**


I found this old black shirt Hubby gave me to refashion and made it into a quick v-necked tank.

But, I noticed there was a hole in the front of the shirt... I'm not sure that I like the way I covered it up (a more subtle color or different shape maybe nicer?) but here's how it went:


1) As with all shirts I get from Hubby to refashion... there was a big old logo on the front of this shirt. So, I flipped it inside out to have a nice solid shirt to work with.




2) Trace a shirt that fits well and add a seam allowance before cutting the fabric. (remember to take into account how stretchy the fabric from the shirt that fits is compared to the shirt you're cutting... you may want to leave a little extra room)
3) Sew the sides of the shirt back together so that the logo is now on the inside of the shirt
4) Cut the neckline into a v-neck (make sure to remove the tag from the shirt too)



5) If the shirt is worn out like this one... locate all of the holes and determine how to fix them
(I chose to sew a brightly colored ribbon in a random pattern over the hole. A large bow or textured patch of fabric may also be options. Or, you could simply sew the hole shut, depending on the size and such)

I kept the neckline edges raw, but they could easily be turned under and sewn.


Here's a close up of the ribbon sewn on to cover the hole in the shirt:

Refashioned t-shirt (pintuck sunburst)

I'm not sure how I feel about this shirt yet... but here it goes:

Before:

1) Flip the shirt inside out to get rid of the huge logo.

2) Find a tank top or shirt that fits well and use it as a guide to make the shirt the correct size (be sure to add a seam allowance!)


3) Cut the sleeves smaller (if desired)

4) Sew the sides of the shirt so the inside of the shirt now has the logo on it.

5) Sew the sleeves back on the shirt.

6) Pleat the sleeves as shown below (this is a top view of the sleeve).

7) Sew the pleat in place.

8) Turn the sleeve edge under and sew in place.

9) Sew pintucks on the right sides of the fabric (I chose to make a sunburst type of pattern, but anything works)

10) Cut the collar off of the shirt (make sure to cut the tag off too)

Refashioned t-shirt (green tank with elastic)

Hubby sorted through his t-shirt collection and rounded up a nice stash he doesn't wear anymore. Then, he gave them to me so I could do some more refashioned t-shirts!

The first shirt I took scissors to was a green shirt (with some lighter more faded areas) with a rather large logo across the chest.

Since I didn't want the logo on the refashioned shirt, I simply turned the shirt inside out. Goodbye logo and hello nice solid green shirt.


The photo above shows the first cuts I made to the shirt. The sides are a little uneven in the picture, but were trimmed more evenly before sewing.

With the NEW right sides together (logo on the outside) I sewed along the two sides of the shirt with a zig zag stitch.

I then cut off the collar of the shirt (and removed the tag)



Now, to finish off the shirt, I simply sewed elastic on the inside of the neck and armholes. I left those edges all raw. Since the edges kind of roll and ruffle a bit, you can see the lighter shades of green on the neck and armholes.

Refashioned t-shirt (asymmetrical tank with bow)

I was folding some laundry and realized I have tons of t-shirts. So, I grabbed one shirt and a pair of scissors and started cutting it up. Here's a little tutorial for a refashioned t-shirt idea:

1) I chose to do an asymmetric, sleeveless, v-neck. So, I cut the shirt accordingly.


2. Then cut the finished end off of the sleeves that were just removed from the shirt.

3. Cut two 1" wide strips from the sleeve used in step 2

4. Take the strips of shirt and pull on them. This makes the wide, normal t-shirt fabric more tube like but still raw (see picture below)



5. Taking one of the stretched strips of fabric, form half of a bow (see below, left)

6. Repeat step 5 and place it on top of the other strip forming a bow

7. Sew the bow together, making sure to catch all layers of the fabric in the bow

8. Cut roughly a 2" wide (about 3-4" long) chunk of fabric leftover from the sleeves. Tie this around the center of the bow to cover the stitches just made. (keep the extra length of the center of the bow to tie onto the shirt later)

9. Stitch all of the raw edges under on the neckline and armholes of the t-shirt

10. Take in the sides of the shirt to make it more fitted

11. Tie the bow on the shirt. (possible locations for bow: top of shoulder on thin strap, front base of thin strap, no bow at all, etc.)

Check out more of my refashioned t-shirts!  Click on the label "refashioned t-shirts" or check out some of these links:

MORE REFASHIONED T-SHIRTS!

Reversible, multiple look t-shirt

Worn out t-shirt & covering a hole

Pintuck sunburst

Tank with elastic on sleeves

Added trim, keyhole back

V-neck tank with straps centered in back

Refashioned t-shirt (added trim, keyhole back)

I'm moving in a few weeks. So, thinking it was a good idea at the time... I moved most of my things to the new place over the last few months. But, unfortunately that included almost ALL of my clothes! (I'm not sure how that happened) That's kind of why I've been on a large sewing spree lately, (and because I'm in between semesters).

Hopefully soon I will have some better clothing options, since my wardrobe currently consists of an old t-shirt, or an old t-shirt.

first step of tee transformation

I had some crazy brown fabric with dots on it laying around, which I've not found a use for in the 3 years I've had it. So, I cut about 1" strips of it and sewed the raw strips with a zig-zag stitch around the newly cut neck and arm holes.

tee neck closeup

The raw edges kept curling so you couldn't see the brown edging, just the wrong side of the fabric. So, I made perpendicular stitches on the neckline every 1.25 inches or so. The neck has two rows of the edging. The other areas only have one.

front of transformed tee

back of transformed tee

This picture makes the back look off center, but I'm pretty sure it's just a funny angle.

Here's a link to another t-shirt transformation from awhile back.

Update: this ugly shirt was made into something much better... dolls!

Refashioned t-shirt (v-neck tank with straps centered in back)

I got a free t-shirt from an event awhile ago. But, at least with my luck, whenever a t-shirt is free it's also several sizes too large. There's a pretty cool graphic on it (which I chose to sloppily cover up in these pictures) so I tried to preserve the shirt and make it into something I could wear.

t-shirt transformed to tank before

t-shirt transformed to tank front view

t-shirt transformed to tank back view