Crop a Sweatshirt

 Hello Readers. Have you ever wanted to shorten a long top? I liked this sweatshirt a lot but it was a tunic. I wanted it to be waist length so I decided to shorten it and add a waistband made from the excess fabric I cut off. Let me show you how I did it. 

A new shorter length.

 

This was a soft tunic style sweatshirt. I like the eggplant color but the hem length and the sleeve length were both a bit long for me. I would like it a lot better if it was shorter in length and I would love an actual waistband at the hem of this shirt. Let's make it shorter. It's easy to do.

 

I cut the length of the shirt to my waist. I use sharp sewing scissors. This length will vary for each person. I suggest putting it on and marking the length that you want and then cutting the shirt.

 

I cut a second piece to use as a waistband. I cut a band from the extra fabric that was approximately 3 inches wide. 

 

I folded the band in half. I wanted the right-side of the fabric facing out. 

 

I clipped the waistband to the outside of the sweatshirt. It was clipped all the way around the hemline. The clips will help keep it in place while I sew it together. 

 

I sewed all the cut edges to each other. I sewed all the way around the hem of the sweatshirt to attach the waistband. I used my serger but you could also use a zigzag stitch on a regular sewing machine. Either is fine. Use what you have.

 

My next step was to top stitch the new seam. This will make the seam smooth and flat. I used my sewing machine with a straight stitch. This waistband will look nicely finished with out any elastic in it so I did not add any elastic to the waistband. (This is a simple beginner sewing machine if you need one.)

 

I wanted to shorten the sleeves a little too. (I have short arms. If you have normal to long arms, you might not need to do this.) I turned the sleeves up. I wanted the sleeves about 3 inches shorter. 

 

I stitched around the wrist cuff. I used a zigzag stitch so that the cuff will still have some stretch. The way I folded the cuff up to sew it will remove the extra length in the sleeve.

 

This is what the new seam looks like. It runs all the way around the wrist. 

 

I cut the excess fabric off the sleeve. I cut next to the seam I just sewed. When I fold the cuff down it will look like a normal sleeve and cuff.

 

Here is my new sweatshirt. The new waistband and wrist cuff look like there were always like that. 

 

I was happy with the new shape and fit of this sweatshirt. I hope this helps you crop one of your shirts. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweatshirts to Dress

 Hello Readers. I wanted to make a dress out of sweatshirt material. I had these 2 sweatshirts in my refashion stash so I decided to use these sweatshirts together. I thought this would be a fun cozy dress.

Before and after. 

This sweatshirt had a cool lace up neckline. This would be a fun feature to a dress.

This men's sweatshirt would be great as a skirt.

I cut the sleeves. and waistband off. I wanted to get the front by itself so make the bodice of the dress.

I cut 2 pieces so I would have 2 layers for my front.

I made a front and back that I could put together.

I cut the sleeves and shoulders off the gray shirt. The body could be a great skirt. I attached it to the bodice.

I wanted to attach the gray sleeves to the bodice.

The dress was as cozy as I thought it would be. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Simple Appliqued Sweatshirt

 Hello Readers. Today is election day. I hope you can get out and vote if you are in the U.S. I wanted to make a shirt for the day that went with the voting theme. (I really love a shirt with a theme.) I wanted spell out the word vote but this idea would work for any word. (Thankful for Thanksgiving, Love for Valentine's Day, Luck for St. Patrick's Day...) I don't have a fancy embroidery sewing machine so let me show you how I did this.

Vote!

 

This sweatshirt was plain and simple and it would be a perfect base for adding some letters. 

 

I had a small piece of cotton fabric with the names of the states. It would be perfect for my letters. And the fabric looked pretty good with my sweatshirt. 

 

The thing that made this project so simple was fusible interfacing. Follow the instructions on the packaging to iron this onto the fabric you want to make your letters out of. 

I used my iron to fuse the interfacing to my fabric. I put my fabric face down and put the bumpy side facing the fabric. I used some scrap white cotton as a barrier between that and my iron. I made my 4 small rectangles because I knew I was going to make 4 letters.

 

The interfacing made the fabric a little thicker and stiffer. It would be easier to handle, cut and sew like this. 

I used a ruler to help me sketch out my letters. I made boxy letters with straight lines. They were easy to draw and they will be easier to sew to my sweatshirt. I used pencil because it will wash out easily.

I cut out all my letters following the pencil lines I drew. 

I arranged my letters on my sweatshirt and made sure I liked the arrangement. These are off center for 2 reasons.

 1. It looked more fun to me. 

2. If I try to line the letters up perfectly straight and they shift even a little in the sewing process, it will be very obvious. Doing it this way will make it easier later. 

I pinned the letters to the sweatshirt. I put pins in all around the letters and made sure they were in different directions to keep the letters in place the best I could while I was sewing.

I used a wide zigzag stitch to attach the letters to the shirt. I sewed all around the edges of the letters. This will keep the edges from fraying and keep the shirt in good condition wash after wash. 

I used different color thread for each letter just for fun. The colors you use are up to you. 

When I was done it was a little wrinkled and the letters had shifted a bit in a couple spots but it's OK. I am not trying to launch a rover to Mars, it doesn't have to be perfect. We are here for a good time, don't stress. I loved how my shirt turned out.

 

 I ironed the whole shirt to smooth out the letters.

My shirt was finished. 

 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. And vote if you can.

***Year End Update***- I liked this lettering so much. I planned to try it again.

 

 

 

A Sweatshirt & Flannel Combo

 Hello Readers. I like to match my kids sometimes when they are young. they love it. It isn't that easy when it is a mother and son. I try to put something matching like that together when I can. This would be great to do if you want your kids coordinated for photos or holidays.

This soft sweatshirt and this cozy flannel shirt had the same colors and the same length so I thought they would work well together.

I cut the shirt into thirds. I kept the middle twice as big as the side pieces I cut.

I also cut the sweatshirt into 3 pieces and again the middle was about twice as big.

 

 I wanted to put the shirt together like this. The middle and the sleeves are different fabrics from the 2 different shirts.

 

I clipped the pieces together so they would stay in place while I sewed. 

 

I used my serger to connect the shirt pieces. You could use a zigzag stitch on a sewing machine as well.
 

Here are both the shirts after sewing them both together. 

 

This refashion was a hit. I know he is going to outgrow this soon but for now he thinks we look great. 

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

 

 ***Year End Update- I put these in a safe place so my son and I could wear them and put something in front of them and couldn't find them for about a month. I have them now and we will wear them asap.

 

 

Sweatshirt to Skirt Refashion

 Hello Readers. I love soft, cozy casual clothes and when I found 2 matching sweatshirts in my hand-me-down pile I thought I could make a whole outfit out of them.

Before and after.

I folded the sweatshirt in half to cut it, This way one side would be the same as the other. I marked the sweatshirt with soap where I wanted to cut it. I cut the sides higher to avoid the sleeves.

I cut the sweatshirt in a curved shape. 

I had a nice skirt with a curved hem. The waistband of the sweatshirt is now the waist of my skirt.

 

I cut a small slit in the inside of the waistband.

 

I pushed elastic through the opening I made. I had attached a safety pin to the front of the elastic so I would have something to push through the waistband.

 

When I got the elastic all the way around the waistband I stitched the ends of the elastic together. 

 

The elastic would keep the skirt up at my waist. It was in place and now I wanted to sew that opening closed. 

I used a zigzag stitch to closed this. I wanted the ugly tan elastic hidden. 

This is a look at the zigzag stitches from the outside. You can see the stitches but it is fine with me. 

 

This is a really soft cozy outfit. This might be my Thanksgiving Day outfit. It is so comfortable and elastic waistbands are good for a big dinner. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Year End Update- This is casual and cozy and I love it. I have worn it together and separate.