T-Shirt Shrug

While my little sisters were in town this past week I also decided to go through my closet and pass down all the clothes that were either too small for me, or that I had not worn in the past year.

While digging through the pile of clothes I found a bunch of t-shirts. They were all too small on me now, but I was looking for old t-shirts to cut the bottom off of after I saw this tutorial on I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. I love the idea of the modesty of an extra layer, but with out the bulkiness. So I went ahead and took a bunch of t-shirts I had and cut the bottoms off to make my self a few.

My sister Erica had mentioned a little earlier that she would love for me to make her a shrug.
So it worked out perfectly that one of the t-shirts I had cut the bottom off of was a pink t-shirt with a deep scoop neck - perfect shape for a shrug.

I also found a gray tank that had buttons down the front of it (I prefer to use pieces that already have buttons and button holes sewed on. I abhor sewing button holes!).

To make the shrug I first cut a straight line up the middle of the pink t-shirt.

Next, I cut off the bottom of the gray tank, folded it in half, and sewed it to the bottom of the pink t-shirt.

Then I cut off the section of the gray tank that had the buttons and holes on it and sewed it to the edges of the front of the pink shirt.

To finish it off I added a little of the gray tank to the sleeves of the pink shirt for a little extra embellishment.

Thankfully my little sis Erica is a skinny minnie and the shrug fit her perfectly!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game! ...A Tutorial

It feels like it has been FOREVER since I have been able to get on here! Sadly our home computer has a virus that won't allow us to access the internet. :-(

So for now I have to wait till hubby comes home and brings his laptop to get ANY computer time.

So in the mean time I have been...thrift store shopping with my mom who came in to town this past weekend, giving my kitchen chairs and table a little face lift, and working on a couple of projects.

The first of those projects that I will share with you today is how to make your own classic baseball t-shirt.

The need for such a shirt for my little man, arose when I found out that his daddy was going to be playing on the church softball team. I wanted him to look the part and show his support for his daddy :-)

I am sure there is a tutorial already out there some where on how to make this style shirt but I haven't stumbled across it yet. So if you haven't found one either yet, I would be happy to share with you how to make your own for your little guy...

Okay first off, what you will need...

2 T-shirts (1 white, and 1 any color of your choosing.)
1 "Pattern Shirt" (this is a shirt that has the baseball style sleeves that you don't mind cutting up)
Paper
Pen
Scissors
Sewing Maching...of course ;-)

First off for my 2 T-shirts I choose and old white one and red one from my hubby's closet...




Next grab your baseball style t-shirt that you are going to cut up...this shirt has the baseball style sleeves but wasn't quite the look I was going for...



Cut it apart at the seams...you should now have five pieces...
1. front 2. back 3-4. sleeves 5. neck line

Next...take your front and back body pieces. Fold each in half and lay on your paper. Time to make your pattern :-)



You are going to want to do this with the front, back, and sleeves. (you can also do this with the neck line)



*Seam Allowances* You can either do this step in your pattern or when cutting out your fabric...but definitely don't forget it.
(In case your new to sewing...when cutting out fabric you will want to leave a seam allowance... or about 5/8 - 1" extra space around your pattern to "allow for seams" this way your shirt doesn't end up just a little too snug)

Next...cut our your patterns. Take your white t-shirt and front and back pattern pieces. If you look closely you can see that I labeled my patterns 'cut on fold'. Make sure you do that other wise you are going to end up with only half a back and half a front.

I also line up my pattern with the bottom of the shirt so I don't have to hem the shirt. This little step saves me so much time! (I hate to hem!)



Repeat the step above with the sleeve patter and the red (or whatever color you choose) t-shirt.
I also leave the t-shirt doubled so I can cut 2 out at once, as well as lining the pattern up with the bottom of the shirt so I don't have to hem the sleeves.




You can do the neck line one of two ways...either take the neck line from your pattern shirt and cut out the same size from your t-shirt(like the pic below)...or like I finally decided to do...simply cut off the neck from the red shirt to use as the actual neck. I prefer using the neck from the red shirt...I just like it ended up looking more put together in the end.



Okay now that you have your five pieces to the shirt cut out it is time to sew it together.

Pin your white t-shirt front and back pieces *right sides* together (once again...in case you are new to sewing...the right side of fabric would be considered the outside of this t-shirt. The wrong side of fabric would be considered the inside of this t-shirt)



Next sew your sides together.


Once you have that done set the body of the shirt aside briefly and pin together the bottom edges of your sleeves like so...once again *right sides* together...and sew this part together (but only this one side!) Make sure to leave the other sides open.




Now this part is a little tricky to explain but not at all difficult to do...

you are going to grab your t-shirt body and turn it *inside* out. Next take one of your sleeves and turn in *right side* out.

Next place the sleeve inside the body of the t-shirt and line up sides of the t-shirt arm holes with the sides of the sleeve. The bottoms near the arm pit should line up as well as the tops.

Okay that was probably confusing the way I explained it...hopefully this pic helps make some sense of that...



Now I am pretty bad at lining up my sleeves just right so I always put a running stitch (a very loose stitch) in it first because I usually end up using my seam ripper about two or three times before I get it just right.

And this time was no exception....after sewing it on I realized that the shoulder part of the sleeves was too long...so I had to take it apart... and trim it excessively.

Once I did that I tried it again...


...and finally success! So don't feel bad if it doesn't turn out just right the first 2,3,4,5 or however many times it takes to get it right!

Once the sleeves look right you are going to sew over your running stitch with a tighter stitch to secure them.

Now...for the neck. At first I had cut out a strip of fabric and sewed it on top of the shirt alot like the way Dana does for her 90 min. Shirt...but decided it just didn't quite work for this type of shirt.

So I decided to cut the existing neck off of the red shirt that I had used for the sleeves. And measured and cut it to fit Jack's shirt.

To sew the neck onto the shirt you are going to want to turn your neck upside down and pin it to the t-shirt...*right sides* together.

Like so....


Maybe this pic will help it make more sense...



To attach the two sew closely to the top of the shirt like the picture above shows. Then remove your pins and flip the neck line back up.

If you are unsure by my directions on this step grab a t-shirt in your house and examine the way the neck is attached to the t-shirt...hopefully that will help :-) If not feel free to ask me and I will try my best to explain it a little better.

And that is it! You are done!



Put it on your little man and enjoy :-)



What is this mommy?



hhhhmmmm...I bet this would taste pretty good...



How to get it in my mouth though...



I think I've got it....



AAAAHHHH! SUCCESS! IT TASTE SO GOOD!

I also plan on adding his last name and a number to the back of his shirt....I think I am going to buy some nice iron-on letters to complete this look.

Hope you have fun trying your own classic style baseball t...happy sewing!



p.s. Feel free to ask me any questions and let me know if any of the directions were confusing or unclear :-)

Editing My Spring Wardrobe...

I have been having so much fun thinking of new ways to refashion the clothes I currently have in my wardrobe.

Today I am going to share my latest, and favorite shirt refashion.

Here is what I originally had to work with...

This is a sweater I bought about a year back at Target. I really loved it...then. But looking at the way it fits now...it is just slightly too tight and the bottom hits at just exactly at the wrong spot... a spot no one would want to emphasize. But I still loved the color and the top fit just perfect.

So I took out my scissors and machine and got to work.

...and here is what I ended up with...



I decided to make a shrug :-) To begin I cut off the ribbed bottom folded it in half and sewed it back on to the shortened shirt. This helped keep the bottom from being too loose and gives it a little more stretch.

The buttons on the front actually came from the side of the shirt...a weird place to have buttons. So I just cut off the fabric strip and sewed it on the front. This saved me a ton of time since I didn't have to sew new button holes! (...and I abhor sewing button holes!!!!)

Next I shorted the sleeves and re-attached the ribbed bottom portion to the sleeve so that it gave it a little puff.

At this point I was starting to feel much better about the shirt, but it still didn't feel finished. So I attached four doilies to the top to give it a little more visual interest. (I got a full bag of these fabulous babies in one of the three boxes of fabric my mom gave me the last time I visited her!)
I simply pinned them on where I wanted them and stitched them on with my machine.

I am so pleased with how it turned out!

Spring Is Finally Here...Sort Of...

It was finally starting to feel like spring...the sun was shinning, the birds were singing, and you could actually go outside with out a jacket...it was wonderful!

And then it snowed last night! UGH!

Now, I really do love snow...

but only in December, January, or maybe even February. But come March I am sick of the cold and ready for spring!

So to celebrate the fact that it is supposed to be spring I have started pulling out a bunch of my long sleeve t-shirts, cutting them up, and turning them into spring worthy attire :-)

I have about five or six long sleeve shirts that are pretty ill fitting and boring. The sleeve are too short and the fit is too wide. Plus did I mention they are boring!

Solution....cut off the sleeves, take in the sides, and add some pretty!

Here is the first shirt I have finished....
...and a close up...
For the pretty on this shirt I cut up a white t-shirt that has lost all shape and wear-ability. I cut three thin strips. Two of which I pinned to the shirt and stitched right down the middle of them. I turned the fabric a couple different ways to give it kind of a crinkled/ruffled look. For the flower (which you can't see well at all in this pic) I put a running stitch in the top of the fabric and gathered it to make a ruffle. Then kind of rolled up the ruffle to make a rose shape sewed the ends together and sewed it on to the shirt by hand.

I also added some length to the shirt with some of the white fabric. This gives it the "layered t-shirt" effect without the bulkiness of layering.

SO EASY! ...and I LOVE easy projects! This one only took me about thirty minutes!

I AM Momma- Hear Me Roar's blog is where I first found the idea for the pretty on this shirt. She has a little more detail and a different twist to her shirt which is super cute!