T-shirt Mania 2; The No-Sew Tunic

Hello Readers. I have a t-shirt refashion to show you that does even require any sewing! You just need some scissors. Keep reading to see more.

This was a basic shirt but it was a little extra long. Instead of cutting it off I decided to work with that extra length and make a tunic style top. My first step was to cut off the neckband and the folded-in seams of the sleeves and hem.

HSLDA is an international homeschool organization.

I cut off the edge and seam of the sleeves and then cut the sleeve at an angle. I didn't cut the seam around the armhole. I just cut off a triangle of fabric from the lower part of the sleeves.

 I took the finished edges of the sleeves and hem I had cut off previously and cut off all the stitching. This left me with more narrow strips of  folded fabric that I could pull and stretch even longer.

 The next thing I did was to make two tiny holes at each shoulder. I made then as close to the seams as I could without cutting the seams at all. I used the little stripe of fabric I had just cut off and pulled it through the holes so the ends were hanging down inside the sleeve. That made a little loop on each shoulder.

   

I pulled the hanging ends up and through the loop, and pulled tight to make a knot. I aslo tied little knots at each end of the strips of fabric. This made the sleeves gather up nicely.

   

 The long strip of fabric from the lower hem of the shirt I used as a tie around the waist of the shirt.

I liked the shirt with the tie around the waist. And I loved the sleeves with their little ruffled edges.It was another gray rainy day when I wore this gray tunic shirt. We are having a very rainy spring and summer.

   

Thank you for reading this post, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- This was a great summer t-shirt, it got a lot of wear. I will get it out again next summer.

T-shirt Mania 1; Using a Freebie

 Hello Readers. A long while back I grabbed some free T-shirts that were being given away at my local rec center.  They were not super cute, so I have been using them in other projects. This is one of those projects. And it's the first in a series of summer t-shirt refashions.

The sign said "Free Shirts" so, I helped myself to several. I still have some left. You are going to see a few more of these in the future.

 Here is the original shirt. I am not a member of this dance group but I can always use a white shirt. I am going to cut the front of this shirt off completely to get rid of the writing.

Here is the cute shirt. The embroidery on the front is very pretty and I like the cording around the neck but these racer back style tops don't work for me. I think I need to invest in the kind of bra that has this kind of back or has convertible straps. Until I do that, I can wear this new shirt I am making.

 

  

I put both the shirts on my dress form. I needed to see how much of the blue shirt it would take to cover the whole logo on the front. I plan to use the front of this blue shirt and insert it into the white shirt. The back will be the white shirt so I will have more coverage.

This shirt had a small logo on the sleeve too. I used a little extra piece of the blue shirt to make a pocket and attach it to the sleeve to cover the writing up.

  

Here is my new shirt. I kept the cording at the neck. It was pretty and unique. The shirt is nice and loose but not overly baggy.Great for the hot days of summer.

  

Thanks for reading this post, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- I liked this shirt but my washer destroyed it. We got a new washer asap!

Shortening Sleeves

Hello Readers. I really liked this pretty sweater. It is very thin and lightweight. It is barely a sweater really. I loved everything about it. Well, almost everything.

This little sweater is almost perfect. There is only one problem. Can you guess what it is? Yes, that's right. It is too long in the sleeves. I can't even push or roll the sleeves up because they are big bell sleeves. They are full cut and slide right back down my arms. I can't go around like this.

  

 I decided to cut the sleeves off. They were working against me so I cut them off. I kept the shoulder seam of the sweater intact so the arm holes didn't get stretched out. I stitched the sleeves from the inside of the sweater. The seam helped stabilize the knit material.

 I also removed that little string at the waist. I wasn't so sure I liked that either. The sweater was soft and stretchy around my tummy, the waist tie was not.

Here are the sleeves. I tried to make them shorter but keep the curved shape at the shoulder exactly the same. I was going to reattach them in a shorter length. I wanted to keep the chevron stripes so I took some fabric from the upper sleeve where it was solid black.

Here is my new sweater with 3/4 length sleeves. It looks almost exactly the same as it did before. It was very easy, probably because it was a knit. It was easy to manipulate the material and put back together.

Here is the dramatic change. I can safely and easily use my hands for all sorts of activities. That includes driving.

I like how this sweater turned it out. It does need a shirt under it but that's OK. It is a soft light layer to wear in the summer when the air conditioning is too cold.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.

       *Year end update- This sweater is a favorite for sure! I still love it.        

In The Pink 4

Hello Readers. This is the last post in a series of pink clothes. Today I have 2 shirts to show you.

Here are my pink shirts. The little pink shirt is really little. It is a very low cut half shirt that I have never worn. Why? Because I am a 46 year old mother of 3, all kinds of pale stretched marked mom body would be oozing out of this little shirt. But that coral pink color is one of my favorite colors. That is why it made it's way to the refashion pile. 

The second shirt is a plaid button down shirt. It fit well but every shirt like this I have ever worn has gaped open between the buttons across the chest. It is very annoying and that means I have to have a shirt underneath so I don't embarrass myself by flashing people.

 I decided that I would make a little tube top to wear under things. I have made a few and they are handy when things are too low cut. I cut the shoulders off this shirt to start with.

 I made a small opening in the hem of this little shirt. I threaded the elastic all the way through until it came back out the little hole I had made. I tied a knot and I was done. Sometimes The elastic isn't needed, and the shirt can stay up on its own, but this shirt needed a little help.

I flipped this shirt upside down so that the elastic is at the top. The elastic will keep the shirt up high enough to cover all the bits and pieces that I want to stay covered.I flipped it upside down so that the finished hem is what you see at the top. It looks nicely finished and was super easy to do.

 I did a little sewing on the front of this plaid shirt. I stitched over the stitches that were already there. This was going to keep the shirt completely closed at all times but there is no change to the appearance of the shirt. I didn't want the shirt to look weird or different, I just wanted it to stay closed and lay flat.

This picture is a little weird, I mean who holds their shirt like this? I was trying to point out the changes I made in both shirts and make them very visible.

Strange pose with a purpose!

Thanks for reading this post, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- I wore this shirt as much as possible because it was so light weigh and comfortable.

In The Pink 3

Hello Readers. This is the third post in a series of pink clothes. This one involves another dress too. A gray dress that needed a little help.

Here is my gray dress. It is loose and light, perfect for summer. Except that it needs a shirt under it because it is cut so low. The thought of wearing a second shirt in the heat of summer is not always appealing to me. I want to cover this deep V with some fabric so I can just wear this dress by itself.

I had the scraps of this pink tunic. I had already cut the bottom hem off and saved it. I had the triangles from the sides leftover as well.

I attached the pink hem along the hem of this gray dress. It made it a bit longer and it also added a bit of weight to the skirt so it won't blow around easily in a summer breeze. Sometimes light weight summer fabrics are a little too light weight.

It is also a nice balance to the pink at the neckline I was going to put it next.

For the neckline I stitched a triangular shaped scrap closed on my machine. Then I turned the finished side out.

I pinned the pink triangle into the front of the gray dress. I made sure it was even and balanced and I made sure it was placed high enough to cover everything I wanted to cover. I had to hand sew the pink triangle into the gray dress because of all the beading. I couldn't use my machine on it. There was no way to dodge around all those metal beads.

Here is a finished dress that can be worn without finding a shirt to go with it. Sometimes it is all I can do to get dressed in the morning. Finding 2 matching items can be too much before caffeine kicks in.

 I am not very alert in the morning, I am more of a cranky zombie. 

I was happy with this dress and I used up some sewing scraps too. That is always a good thing. Thanks for reading this post, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- This dress was great all summer. It was light weight and sometimes I like to cover my arm from the sun, this was perfect.

In The Pink 2

Hello Readers. I had a few pink items waiting to be refashioned so, I am working on them one after another. Today's items were 2 shirts that were just not wearable for me. They were pretty but...

SHIRT 1

Why were they unwearable Chickie? Surely you could wear them somewhere. No. This shirt is just too weird. It is made of 2 layers. The blue underneath is a simple knit material. This outer layer is gorgeous but it is in separate panels. And yes they do fly up and flap around like a bird when you are walking around.

Yes, the back panel flys around too. I don't want to walk around with these pieces of material flying up at me all the time. It just makes me uncomfortable. If I am cooking dinner will they fly up catch on fire? With my luck, they probably will. I don't need this kind of danger in my life.

The first thing I did was to connect all the panels and it made normal looking shirt.

I cut the body of the shirt off the top of the shirt. I had the blue layer and the patterned layer. They are both finished at the hem so they will make a fast skirt.

I attached the two layers to the outside of a simple elastic waistband. I pinned it all in place and then stitched it down with a zigzag stitch. I wanted to cover those raw cut edges and make sure it had a little give around the elastic..

Then I turned the elastic in so it was totally covered with the skirt fabric. I tacked it down so it could not flip around.

SHIRT 2

This pink shirt is long like a tunic but it is also really full. Like really super full. It would be great over leggings. But it is so full and loose at the bottom that if you bend over to attend to your child (Or wrestle him into the doctor's office.) it will drag on the ground and flash everyone. Don't ask how I know, I just know.

Dark photo 1

I cut the entire hem off. I am going to use it somewhere else. I also cut the shirt in a straight shape. I saved those triangle pieces too. I have a plan for these pink scraps. You can see them next time.

Dark photo 2

Here is an unedited picture of this great outfit. My husband took this when I was making faces at him. And a nicer shot of this outfit. It is fun and easy going, two things I always want to be.

 

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- This shirt and skirt are still favorites. The colors are so pretty to me.