Howdy kids. Today, we are rescuing this absolutely enormous t-shirt.
It's even bigger than it looks in this pic. Trust me.
It needs help.
And, look:
To give you a size comparison, I grabbed a loose fitting t-shirt out of my closet. Yeah. It's that big.
But that's okay. I wanted something loose (well, maybe not that loose). I wanted something I could could throw on over a swimsuit when I was at the lake or beach with my family. Believe it or not, this shirt has potential.
First, I snipped off the bottom hem. I wanted this top to be a little bit "flowy" and that hem was weighing me down. Off it goes.
I'm a bit of a cave-dweller. Not by choice, mind you. It's just that most of my work ends up being indoors. When I have a chance to get out in the sun, I want to soak up all the rays I can, so the sleeves needed to go bye-bye. Chomp.
While I was snip-happy, I cut some of that neckline away, too.
Now I needed to do some re-shaping. I did this in stages. First, I just sort of guessed at an a-line shape that would be a bit narrower at the top and widen out toward the bottom. I grabbed my marking pencil and went to work.
The armholes were about a mile away from where my arms actually live, so I needed to make new ones. I marked that on one side, then folded the top to mark the second side (you know, so they would match). I have plans for those shoulder seams, so I didn't cut away very much. You'll see why in a bit.
All prepped and ready for the first trip through the machine of doom.
Doom for any ugliness, that is.
Zoom, zoom.
Next, I grabbed some thin elastic and stretched it as I sewed it to those shoulder seams. This gathered and bunched the shoulder seams to create a different look.
I used a zig-zag so the seam would have some stretch.
Then I ran off for a fitting. Turns out it was still a football field too big. I wanted it to fit very loosely, but I didn't want it to look like a tent. More marking and cutting and sewing on those side seams.
And then it was done. See:
And do you see that headband I'm wearing? It's a no-sew bonus. I cut out the middle of one of the sleeves into a wedge shape, so it would be wider at the top of my head and thinner at the bottom when I wore it.
I tossed the two outside pieces in the trashcan. We won't be needing those.
I gave that middle piece a bit of a tug to curl the edges and it was done. One of the joys of knits it that finishing the seams is optional. And I opted out.
Now I have a matching headband to keep my tresses tame while I play.
Behold, the No-Sew Headband:
Have a great day!
Angela
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