DIY TSHIRT

This is a little project I tried myself this week – it’s not really a tutorial, but hopefully you’ll read it and be inspired!

Last summer I bought a t-shirt from New Look that was a bit of an impulse buy in the sales. I think I got it for about £3 as it had a tiny hole in the back. It was a few sizes too big but I thought it was cute so bought it anyway, and then never wore it as it was too big. Little did I know it had just been waiting for the right moment and idea!

 I decided I was going to make it fit me a little better, so I bought some lovely crochet lace. I dyed the t-shirt and lace grey, but forgot to take a photo before I dyed them. I used Dylon hand dye in Antique Grey. My plan was to insert the lace in the sides after cutting out some of the excess fabric. I also wanted to disguise the hole in the back.

First, to disguise the hole in the back of the t-shirt, I pinned and sewed a strip of lace on the back of the t-shirt, making sure it went over the hole. After sewing the lace on, I cut out the fabric from behind it to create a see-through effect. This technique is called reverse appliqué.

Then to get to the resizing. I put the t-shirt on and marked down the sides, where it was too big. I took it off and then cut all of this fabric off. I went all the way from the end of the sleeves to the bottom of the top in one cut as the sleeves were too big as well. I pinned the lace along the gaps and sewed it in place.

 
This is what the back of my top looked like at this point.

And the last thing I did was to cut off the sleeves halfway and then fold them up. I hand sewed them in place with running stitch, because I hate that feeling when your rolled up sleeves are all messed up.

Yay! A reconstructed and almost totally different tshirt! Throughout my tshirt I used a contrasting cotton thread, and I didn’t try to hide my seams. Instead, I made a feature of them, as I wanted to contribute to that deconstructed feel.

There really are so many different things you can do with all that old stuff you have in your wardrobe – clothes that don’t fit anymore, or that have holes in. Customising a piece of clothing well really does put that extra spring in your step!

-JENNY