Tshirt refasion tutorial (high-low peplum)

One evening my husband brought home some t-shirts from an event.  I immediately knew I wanted to cut them up and make something for Curly Cutie.  After a couple of wearings and washings the hubby finally handed them over, and I got down to business.

Neons are just not a set of colors I gravitate to, but since these shirts just fell in my lap I decided to make them over.  Neon is in.  Peplums are in.  Why not combine the two?  How about a cute little shirt.  You know I had to keep it simple.

I thought I would fill you all in on just how simple it is to create this shirt.  Like I said, I’m making this one for a child but the steps can easily be used to create one any size.  First, I’ll show you the final product, then we’ll jump in to the process.

1. Gather the t-shirts you want to refashion.

-I used (2) medium shirts.  I could only use the lower portion because of the advertisements at the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Use a nice fitting tank as a pattern for making the new shirt.  This step would look different for an adult shirt. 

-Fold the tank in half and lay it on one side of the t-shirt matching up the folded edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Cut around the edges of the tank making sure to leave about an extra 1/2″ on all edges.  This will keep the shirt from being too small once it’s sewn.  This will be the back bodice of our top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Once your 1st t-shirt piece is cut, you can use it as a pattern to cut the 2nd piece.  Take your 1st cut out piece and flip it over to the opposite fold on the t-shirt.  Make sure folded edges are lined up again.  Cut around t-shirt pattern, but there is no need to leave extra  room this time.  This will be the front bodice of our top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Cut the lowered front neck hole on the 2nd cut t-shirt.  In order to do this we need to place our original tank (blue) onto the t-shirt to see how far down we need to cut.  Again, you want to cut 1/2″ larger than our pattern tank.  Notice the green arrow pointing to my scissors (kinda hard to see).  It is about 1/2″ above the front neckline of the tank.  Do not cut through your tank, just move it out of the way as you cut up that curve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.  You should have a front and a back cut out now.  Notice the difference in neckline area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  Now we can sew the front and back bodice pieces together.  Make sure the pretty sides of your t-shirt fabric are facing.  Pin and sew the shoulder and side seams together (dotted lines).  Working with knits can be tricky for some.  I don’t claim to have mastered it, but from reading others’ experiences it seems like different things work for different people.  I suggest doing some reading  and practicing with what you have.  What has worked for me is sewing with a stretch stitch.  It looks like a slanted zig zag stitch.  For an in depth look at sewing with knits you can check out this post from Prudent Baby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.  Let’s work on the peplum.  I pulled out the 2nd orange t-shirt in my possession.  I cut off the top portion with the lettering.  I used the bottom portion to create the peplum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.  You will need the waist measurement of the person the shirt is for.  I folded my tape measure to the size of CC’s waist which is 20.5″.  I slightly curved the tape and placed it on the shirt like you see below.  It did not give me a perfect semi circle, but there are sewing tools out there that do bend and stay in position.  I just don’t own any, and this is what worked for me.  This will allow you to cut the curve of the waist without having to do a bunch of math.  You can also take a fabric marking tool and draw a curved line for you to cut out.  Do whatever you are comfortable with.  As you can see, this is still the bottom of the 2nd shirt and the fold is on the right while the top edge is open because that’s where I cut it from the top portion of the tee.  You could replicate this technique with yardage fabric.  It does not have to be from a t-shirt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the waist cut out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.  You will need the lengths of the front (high) and back (low) of peplum.  How far down do you want it to hang?  For CC, her #’s were 6″ (front) and 9″ (back).  You can see these measurements in the pics.  This technique leaves the seam of the peplum in the back of the shirt.  So, you have a one-piece peplum with a back seam.  Make a snip with your scissors at those two marks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can once again use the tape measure to create a curve for you to cut, or you can use a marking tool to draw a curved line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go ahead and make your cut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove the peplum skirt, and place scraps to the side.  The folded edge is the front, and the two cut edges will meet in the back.  This will give you a preview of what the peplum will look like attached to the shirt top.  This is also the time to make any necessary adjustments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.  Sew seam of peplum.  Again, I used about a 1/2″ seam allowance.  Make sure the pretty sides of your fabric are touching.  Pin and sew the raw edges together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

12.  Connect peplum to shirt.  With the right side of the shirt facing out, place the peplum around the outside of the shirt matching raw edges.  Remember to line up the peplum seam with the center back of the top.  You can also mark the center front and sides of the peplum with a pin before attaching it to the the shirt so you can get an even match up with the front and sides of the top.  Pin the shirt and peplum in place.  Sew around the waist using the same 1/2″ for seam allowance.  You can see my line of stitching around the waist in the pic below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

13.  Hem the bottom of peplum.  You really can do what you want at this step.  You can leave it without a hem.  You can turn the hem up one or twice to your desired length.  I turned the hem up one time at about 3/8″.  The seam will not fray when washed, so this step is just about aesthetic preference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’re done!!!!

Oh, the white capris were refashioned from a t-shirt as well.  I used an old pair of CC’s capris for a pattern.  I used a wonderful tutorial from Dana to construct the bottoms.  If you guys aren’t familiar with Dana you should check her out.  I can see myself making more of these in the future.

Curly Cutie adores this outfit.  She looks comfortable and can move with ease.  And the fabric was free.  This is how we’re clothing CC for the summer.

T-shirt refashion (handsewn edition)

In the age of electric sewing machines, hand sewing seems like a thing of the past.  It is alive and well my friends.  Hence this project.  At least the first part of it anyway.

So, I needed a project for a three hour car ride to and from the airport.  And because children’s clothes use less fabric, I decided to make something for none other than Curly Cutie.  I am determined to use every piece of clothing given to me by my neighbor before she moved.  Remember the first t-shirt refashion I completed from said clothes?  Ha!  Actually Curly Cutie is wearing the shirt today.  She loves it.  On to our next subjects.

 

 

Armed with a pattern, these t-shirts, scissors, and pins I was ready to take this project on the road.  I decided to use the floral print and solid red t-shirts to make CC a dress.  I thought I would use the white shirt to add ruffles or something, but I nixed that.  I completed the project in well under the three hours.  There were some things I didn’t have to do since I used finished garments.  No hemming or finishing seams.

 

 

I removed the sleeves from original shirt.  Cut those down to size and reattached.  Left neckline alone.  Cut off bottom.  I sliced the floral print shirt right underneath v-neck and just used bottom portion.  There was only one problem.  When we got home and CC tried it on it was way to big.  She also made a request to have it sleeveless.  So much for ALL my hard work.  Lol.

 

 

That’s what I get for trying a new pattern and not sticking to what is tried and true.  Using a piece of nice fitting clothing as a pattern.  No need to fix a method that’s not even broken.  If CC would be able to wear this, I had to go back in and fix it.  It was kinda sad having to pick through those hand stitches.  Since I was at home, you already know I hopped on my machine to get the job done.  This in no way took away from my appreciation of hand stitching.  I learned that if I needed to do it, I could.  Being that I don’t have to right now, I won’t.  Lol.

We both really like the final product.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not all that comfortable just yet with finishing knit armholes.  For this project I just used the hem of the original sleeve and added it to the tank part.  Turned out great.

 

 

And this is another way we are doing clothes for CC the easy (inexpensive) way.

 

 

 

Fleece pants + Shirt refashion

I finally figured out something to do with the leftover fleece from baby boy’s soakers.  I found a tutorial over at fleecefun.com for some too cute boutique-style fleece pants.

boutique-style pants from http://www.fleecefun.com

I had to make a pair for Curly Cutie.  I used the size 5/6 pattern for her.  She still could have used another inch in length.  Pretty tall one I have over here.  I also opted not to add lace trim around the bottom.

The pants just sat around for a little bit while I figured out what to do for a top.

We recently said good-bye to our neighbor as she moved out of the neighborhood.  It was definitely bitter sweet.  We did not want to see her go, but we knew the move was a good one for her.  She lived alone, and was getting up in age.  It was such a pleasure getting to know her and her children.  She would often come over and ask if Curly Cutie could come for a visit.  CC loved these moments because she knew yummy snacks would be involved.  I believe my neighbor is the reason CC likes plants and bird feeders today.  She would help watering the plants and refilling the feeders so the birds could eat.

My neighbor’s daughter knows that I sew and offered me several boxes of clothing hoping I could make use of the fabric.  Well, that’s exactly what I did.  I found a shirt in the box that I thought would make a wonderful top for CC’s boutique fleece pants.  It just needed a little tweaking.  I loved its nautical vibe.

CC is pretty much hilarious.  I asked her if I could snap a few pics of her outfit.  She obliged.  She thought it would be a nice touch to grab her upcycled t-shirt scarf for a pic or two.  The bottom-middle pic was taken as she was telling me that she was done taking pictures.  Lol.  That was a wrap.

One day, we plan to go visit our neighbor at her new home.  CC will wear her refashioned shirt, and hopefully she will notice something familiar.

And this is how we’re clothing Curly Cutie the easy way.