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. 

Turn an X-Large Dress into a Maxi Skirt

I saw this super deal for an X-large dress at JCP (You wouldn't believe, I got it for $ 1.99 :)) and I bought it thinking to repurpose it to a maxi skirt. Here is a simple tutorial to show how to repurpose an X-large dresse into a medium size maxi skirt.
Since, the hem of the X-large dress is going to be hem of the maxi skirt, you just need to work on the waist portion of the skirt ie. cut off the dress as per your measurements, create a seam, and insert elastic, to modify the dress to a maxi skirt.

 
Supplies:
X-large dress
1/4 inch wide elastic
Sewing supplies (sewing machine, matching color thread, scissors, pins etc.)

1. Turn the dress inside out. Decide how long you want your maxi skirt to be and then measure from the bottom of the dress, up to the length you want plus 3/4 inch (red line in the picture). Then cut off at your needed measurement.

 2. Optional: If your dress is too wide, cut off the excess fabric from both sides and create a new seam along the sides, shown as green lines in the picture)
3. Fold down the top raw edge, 3/4 inch and pin in place.

4. Create a seam that is 1/2 inch from the top folded edge. Leave a 1 inch opening for the elastic.
5. Cut a piece of elastic that is the same length as the waist you’re sewing for.  Insert the elastic (using a safety pin at one end) and thread it through the casing you made in the last step and secure the ends of the elastic with zig-zag stitch.
















6. Guide the elastic back into the skirt casing and sew the elastic opening of the skirt.

(Pic courtesy: Roby Kurian and Rose Kurian )