Monday, September 16, 2013

Turn An Oversized T-Shirt Into A Cute Fitted Tee

I scored this "gently used" tshirt at a yard sale this summer for 25 cents!
Now, I don't have any interest in college football. However, I've lived in West Virginia all my life, and I feel that I need to pick a side - Marshall University or West Virginia University.  My choice was simple. I look better in gold than green. =) 
**I do like the Washington Redskins (but only because my boyfriend does), so I really need to find a Redskins tshirt to do this to.**
To make this shirt more fitted, I had to move the shoulder seam. It was going half way down my arm. I put the shirt on inside out, and marked where the new seam should go with a piece of chalk.  I marked it all the way to the bottom of my armpit. Then I cut along the chalk line.




Next, I slid the sleeve (the part that I cut off) on my arm and pinned it for a comfortable fit. I sewed and trimmed the excess fabric. Then I pinned it to the armhole on the shirt and sewed it back on.




Once I finished the sleeves on both sides, I tried the shirt on inside out and pinned the sides to make the shirt fit better. 


Then I sewed up the sides. I trimmed the excess fabric.
Now, on to the ruching!!! (My favorite part!)
I used 1/4" elastic.  I chose to ruche the sleeves and the sides of the shirt.
I started by attaching the elastic with a few stitches, then I pulled the elastic super tight while I was sewing it to the shirt.



And this is how the ruching looked when I was finished.
  


Once I was finished, I realized that the shirt was still too long for my taste so I cut the original hem off. Since this is a t-shirt, I didn't have to re-hem it. I just stretched it a little and it rolled up.

Now it's perfect! I think I'm gonna start doing this to all of my oversized tshirts! =)



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12 comments:

  1. Thank you for this tutorial! I'm excited about using it on my oversized school shirts. :)

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  2. This is exactly what I needed today. I received a new t-shirt for work and it is way too big for me. Thanks !

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  3. Do you cut the elastic length shorter than the length of the sleeve? I'm new to ruching so was unsure of how long to cut the elastic ~ excited to do this!!!!

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    1. Yes. You want to cut the elastic a bit shorter than the sleeve length, because as you sew the elastic to the shirt, you'll be pulling the elastic tight. Hope this helps! Good Luck! =)

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  4. What if i i do have a sewing machine and suck at hand stitch?

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    1. I would recommend using a sewing machine for this project. Since it's a knit fabric, I think it's best to have a tighter stitch. I don't know if hand stitching would work very well.

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  5. I was looking for ways to make my WVU tshirt more feminine- couldn't believe when I saw this PIN! I no longer live in WV since the Navy but still support my Mountaineers!!

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