T-Shirt Refashion

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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