Refashioning an Old T-shirt

Supplies:
Old T-shirt
Sewing supplies (sewing machine, thread, pins etc.)
3-5 thin strips (max 1" width) of a contrast color knit fabric


Tutorial:
Trace the outline of the top using one of your perfectly fitting T-shirt, preferably one that’s not too snug and at the same time you don’t want it to be super baggy either (allow an extra 1/4-1/2" for seam allowance). Cut off at your needed measurement.

I wanted my front neckline to be U-shaped and a bit lower that the back neckline. Draw front neckline and cut off the extra fabric.

Turn the T-shirt inside out and place the front and back pieces together with RIGHT sides together, and sew at the back neck line first, then shoulders, and arm holes. Finally sew together the sides of the top (with a 1/4 " seam allowance).

 
I have decided to make the top a bit more fancy by adding a few extra embellishments at the front neckline and around the chest. For that, make a few yarns from a contrasting color knit fabric, cut from one of my old red T-shirt. You can simply stretch a 1/2" wide knit fabric strip, then the edges of the strip will curl into a yarn. No sewing necessary!


To attach the yarn to the top, poke holes and string the red yarn through them using a small safety pin. Repeat the same process to make 3 parallel broken lines with yarn. 

Use the same red yarn for the front neck. Fold in around 1/4" from the edge of front neck, poked holes, pulled the yarn and looped through the holes using a safety pin (just like in a regular whip stitch). 

Secure the ends of the yarns with a few stitches at the seams of shoulder and sides.

 Finally, press at the seams and iron the top.