Category Archives: clothing

Quick and Easy T-Shirt Makeovers #1

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I didn’t think that each of these quick and easy casual t-shirt refashions warranted it’s own post but I did want to share with you all how quick and easy it can be to makeover a t-shirt from ordinary or unwearable into something that you love.

Too Short T-Shirt Grows Up

I love this t-shirt that I picked up from Crossroads (a local consignment shop).

Isn't all this detail amazing!?

 

I later learned that it originally cost $$ at Bloomingdales! It fit nicely, the only problem was that it was too short. At first I tried wearing it with a tank underneath but I didn’t like the bulk. I tried it for awhile with a cami but on warm days I didn’t like the extra layer. I even used a “topless tank” but it would get twisted around and again on warm days it felt like an extra layer. Finally it dawned on me that I could just add a “mock layer” myself and have a t-shirt that I both loved AND was comfortable in.

Because I don’t like to do hems, especially on stretchy fabrics and why should I have to when there are so many plain t-shirts and tank tops out there that I can sacrifice to the cause. In this case I cut the bottom 4 inches from a stained white wife-beater tank top that I had been planning to dye, but considered this to be a better use of this particular tank top. There are plenty of stained white tank tops out there to be dyed. This one was going to become part of an amazing t-shirt. Then it was a matter of simply stitching the tank top tube to the inside of my t-shirt and …

Ta-da!

Boring Black Ribbed T-Shirt

I had this black ribbed t-shirt that had a nice detail on the neck, but that wasn’t enough to rescue it from plain-Janedome.

boring but comfortable

interesting neck detail

 

 

I thought that adding a graphic to the front of this t-shirt would be an easy rescue. I had a patch that I liked but it didn’t stand out enough on my shirt.

originally rescued from old BF's shirt

 

So I backed the graphic patch with an iron-on patch from my sewing kit.

sometimes 2+2=more than 4

 

Then sewed my new patch to my t-shirt and I’m enjoying the resulting new t-shirt.

up close

the whole T

Off Shoulder Long-Sleeved T-shirt

I had an old Old Navy t-shirt that I liked a lot but I’m just so over the basic crew-neck T so I decided to bump this one up a notch. I don’t have any before pics but you’ve all seen a basic brew-neck t-shirt.

I carefully cut away the ribbing at the neck so that I could use it either in this or a future refashion. Then I drew my new neckline on the t-shirt with chalk and cut it out, unpicked the sleeve hem and bottom hem and lettuce-edged the neckline, sleeve edge and bottom of the t-shirt using a light blue thread that matched the graphic on the front of the shirt.

neckline edging

sleeve edging

 

 

Tried it on and wasn’t completely happy with how the neck-line fell so far down my arm. I wanted it slightly off the shoulder, not falling off! I always miscalculate how much to cut from a neckline, but because this is a common mistake of mine I’ve cooked up a few solutions. For this rescue of a refashion gone wrong I cut away the serged edge of the ribbed collar so that I had a strip that would be long enough, when cut in half to serve as mock-cami straps.

close up of mock cami strap

both straps attached to t-shirt

finished t-shirt

 

Zero Waste – Sweater Made Into Capelet

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I don’t know if “capelet” is really the right word for this refashion, but since that was my original intention when I started out on this little adventure I’m sticking with it. What it turned out to be is a shawl, scarf, poncho, skirt and oh yeah, a capelet too.

Almost a before picture.

Ever since seeing Made By Lex’s capelet made over from an old sweater I’ve been obsessed with making capelets. I’ve only made two so far, but I’ll continue to make more. It’s such a simple style but both of my refashioned capelets are surprisingly very different.

This refashion evolved as it went along and ended up being something totally different than I had originally intended. I started out thinking that it would be a little off the shoulder capelet, more like an oversized collar that I could pop on over a cami on a summer day that turned chilly. So I started by cutting off the bottom of the sweater and tried it on. I felt like it was too short so I cut up the rest of the sweater to extend the length and ended up with a super-capelet. It’s a capelet, it’s a shawl, it’s an infinity scarf, it’s a skirt!

cutting

gathering

label that will be part of another refashion - ZERO waste!

I love that the redesign allowed me to make this a zero waste refashion. I didn’t use the label in this refashion but I promise I’ll use it in another one.

with a flower pin

I’ve worn this as pictured above and also as an infinity scarf, as an off-the-shoulder capelet/poncho and as a skirt over leggings. I love that this sweater was completely unwearable – it was soft and a pretty color but it was shapeless, stretched out and wrinkled even after ironing – and after refashioning it into this capelet-scarf-skirt it’s almost a wardrobe staple for me.

 

Sweatshirt Refashioned into Dress

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Just when I had despaired of ever finding a way to refashion sweatshirts other than making them into monstrosities for an ugly sweater Christmas party I came across these sweatshirt dresses posted by Zoe on the Refashion Co-op! They are really fabulous!

I had an idea though to make a dress like this easier to make for those of us who are not as skilled with the needle as Zoe AND my version takes only one sweatshirt and one sweater, whereas Zoe’s version takes 2 sweatshirts and 1 sweater. Instead of sewing the top portion of the dress from scratch like Zoe did, I would simply use the body of a sweater that fits you reasonably well (or alter it before you use it to make this dress). Save the sweater sleeves to make a clutch purse or sweater boots or one of my little capelets. I haven’t posted instructions to any of these yet, but if you do a site search you’ll find them when I do publish them.

Use the sleeves from the sweatshirt to make the sleeves on the dress by gathering them at the top to fit the sweater armhole. Take the ribbing off the sleeves and resize it to fit your arm just above the elbow. Cut the sleeve to a length that works for you, keeping in mind that the ribbing will be added back to the sleeve. Gather the bottom of the sleeve to fit the resized ribbing.

Use the collar from the sweater or the collar from the sweatshirt, whichever you prefer. If using the sweatshirt collar, resize it to fit and sew it onto the dress.

Cut the body of the sweatshirt apart and resize to fit your shape. Sew a new side seam, then sew the resulting tube to the bottom of the sweater, with the waistband of the sweatshirt at the bottom of the dress.

Step back and admire your handiwork!

Oh and if any of my vague instructions above were confusing go on over to Zoe’s post to find more detailed instructions.

Variations:
If your sweater is a v-neck, turtleneck or cowl-neck that would still look nice with this project.

If your sweater is a vest, all the better, zero waste!

If your dress isn’t long enough you can use the sweater sleeves or the sleeves of another sweatshirt or any parts of the original sweatshirt that you cut off, to lengthen the dress. Piece the fabric that you’re using together into a tube the same circumference at the top as the bottom of the sweater body and tapering out to match the circumference of the skirt of the dress. Don’t worry if you need to patchwork the tube together. You can top-stitch, blanket stitch or use any other type of embroidery stitch over the seams in a matching or contrasting thread to make it look intentional, but make sure to do this when the fabric is one flat piece. If you wait to do this after you’ve stitched it into a tube, it’s going to be much harder to do. Cut the tube to the width you need to make the dress the length you want making sure to allow for a seam allowance on both top and bottom edges of the tube where you’ll attach it to the skirt. Sew the tube to the sweater body on one edge and to the sweatshirt skirt on the other edge.

For all of you “zero waste refashionistas” here are some ideas for projects you can use the leftover sweater sleeves to make:

  • leg warmers
  • arm warmers
  • scarf – take apart and sew together into a scaarf
  • sweater shrug
  • sweater boots
  • interchangeable boot cuffs – you won’t use the entire sleeve for this – cut and stitch a portion of each sleeves to a pair of socks for a pair of sweater cuffs you can wear to change up the look of  many pairs of boots
  • clutch purse – you won’t use even one entire sleeve, but you could combine this project with the interchangeable boot cuffs and another project of two to use up both sleeves
  • tote bag – cut the sleeves apart and stitch together into a tote bag. Line with scraps leftover from other refashion projects.
  • And for a whole bunch of ideas for using up your sweater sleeves check out this Squidoo article.

 

 

Victorian Scarf Refashioned From Doilies

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I found this scarf on Sarah’s Never Ending Projects.

Sarah modeling her beautiful knit scarf.

Isn’t it beautiful? And she knit it herself! As I was admiring it I thought that I could recreate it by simply stitching together some crocheted doilies picked up at a yard sale. Viola – instant scarf! Leave as is or sew a gathering stitch down the middle of the scarf. I’ll post a pic once I find enough doilies, but if any of you take this idea and run with it please post a link to your project in the Comments below.