How To Re-shape A Cute Summer Top

Hey! Thanks for stopping by to read this. I got that shirt on the left for free. I probably would have paid for it. I tend to buy clothing that looks great on skinny people without thinking it might not look the same on me. However, this time, I lucked into a free shirt. I decided it might look good without that awful elastic faux drawstring waistline. I don't understand why designers don't get this...women with bigger waistlines do not like clothing that cuts into or sticks to their stomachs. Seriously. And please, for the love, nothing that "blouses"! That's not a good look either. Take a look at that before and after pic above...I weigh the same in BOTH pictures. They were taken the same day. I look thinner and more "put together" in that second picture. (Or at least I think so.)

So for this tutorial, I'm gonna show you how to re-shape a top with 4 super easy changes.

To start, I grabbed my handy dandy seam ripper to take out the stitches of the elastic casing.

Once I got all the stitches out, it looked like this:

No worries, those wrinkles will come out with an iron.

I cut the sleeves off next. I like to cut the sleeves right before the armhole seam. (This makes it easier to sew the raw edge up.) With the shirt inside out, I rolled the raw edge over once and pinned.

Then I sewed down the raw edges of the armholes.

With the shirt turned inside out, it was time to 'fit' the top. Starting at the armpit, I pinned the shirt down the sides. I like for my shirts to flare a little towards the bottom so the shirts aren't clingy.

I ran the shirt through the sewing machine along the pins.

I tried on the shirt. When I had it the way I wanted, I turned the shirt inside out and trimmed the excess fabric.

I wanted this shirt to have a little something extra. So I grabbed an old white t-shirt and cut a wide strip. I folded it in half.

Then I put a gathering stitch in the wide white strip to make a ruffle.

Next, I pinned that white ruffle along the neckline.

This is how the ruffle looked after it was sewn in.

Annnnd, this is the final result. I love it!

Thanks for reading! 

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A Pretty Shirt Refashion

 Man, I have been super sporadic with my tutorials lately.

 I finished my spring semester in May and my kids will be done with school tomorrow! (Yay! No more alarm clocks to set or lunches to pack until August! WOOHOO!) 

I'm hoping to do a lot more tutorials this summer. Fingers crossed! =)

But for now, here's how I made this shirt....

  

Ugh. For realsies, I should never wear shirts that have no shape ever again. And note to self, get a hairstyle. yikes! lol 

Anywho, onto the clothing...

I was gifted 2 big bags of clothes from a friend of a friend. They were too big, but only by one size. Even though most of the shirts were in great condition, they were shorter than I prefer. Also, most of the shirts looked like the red shirt on the left. Whomever (did I use that right?) owned these shirts before me either really loved the style or they got a seriously great deal. I have a ton of these shirts now.  

 I love the red, but it needed updated and shaped. So I searched through the bag and found that middle shirt. I love the pattern, but a shirt in my size should never ever ever ever (did I mention never ever?) have that as an all over pattern. Geesh. I knew the pattern would look perfect as an accent. 

So here's the tutorial: 

This is an up close shot of the shirts. See that crocheted part on the neckline of the red shirt?

 I started with that.

I couldn't grab my seam ripper fast enough. I got rid of the crocheted panels on the shirt. 

Btw, this is one of my favorite parts of a refashion...the demolition. =) 

I had to use my scissors on some of the crochet part, some of it was super stubborn.

The picture below is what the shirt looked like at this point.  

Next to go were the sleeves. (I need some tank tops for the summer.)

Instead of using the seam ripper here, I just went straight for the scissors. I cut off the sleeves right before the shoulder seam.

With the shirt turned inside out, I folded the raw edges over twice and pinned them down. 

Then I sewed the seam of the arm holes.

For this next part (with the shirt turned inside out), I tried on the shirt and pinned under the armpit then I pinned the shirt down the sides. I didn't want it to be tight, so I flared my pins out towards the bottom. 

 After I was sure I had it pinned just the way I wanted, I sewed along the pins. Once I finished sewing the shirt, I trimmed the excess fabric from the sides.

 Back to the neckline. I wanted to add the patterned material as a trim and then add a modesty panel to the neckline.

I cut a long strip of fabric from the patterned shirt. Mine was 2 inches in width. 

 This next step, I used this tutorial I found at Craftsy.com. It's an awesome tutorial on how to make a V-neck. I modified it slightly to only use the front part of the neckline and not all the way around.

The picture below is what the v-neck looks like from the inside of the shirt.

 The picture below is what the v-neck looks like on the outside of the shirt.

 To make the modesty panel, I cut a piece of fabric from the patterned shirt. I took the easy road and found a piece of the neckline from that shirt that already had a finished edge.

The next step was to pin the modesty panel to the v-neck.

(this is the view from the outside of the shirt)

 I sewed it and trimmed all of that excess fabric off. 

To make the trim at the bottom of the shirt, I cut off the original bottom of the patterned shirt. (Again, I saved myself a step by not having to hem the trim.) I don't remember the exact width of the patterned strip, but it was really just a preference on how long I wanted the shirt to be. If I had to guess, I would say it was probably 4 inches. 

I pinned the strip up under the shirt and sewed it to the shirt. Once, I was finished, I trimmed the excess patterned fabric.

And this was the final result! I love this shirt. I think it's flattering on me now. Or at least it's way more flattering than it was in the beginning. =)  

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What's Too Tight and Too Short? Not This Shirt!

So, I've learned that buying clothes from a yard sale or Goodwill can be a gamble with the sizing if you don't try on the clothes. I encountered this problem with both Shirt #1 and Shirt #2 in the above picture. I can't remember why I didn't try them on. I wanna say it was a time issue. Anyways, In the first picture, the shirt is too tight even though the tag assured me it shouldn't be. (Liar, Liar pants on fire!) The problem with Shirt #2 was everything. The cut was awful, there was just no shape whatsoever, and it was way big (it may not look like it in the picture, but trust me on this one). The pattern wasn't bad, and the colors are what prompted me to purchase it. However, that pattern all over the shirt turned out to be just TOO much.  I think I only spent about $5 total on the shirts.

 I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way, but I'm a big fan of long shirts. After you hit 30 and have a baby, you tend to not like short shirts. I also don't care for clingy shirts that show any lumps and other such imperfections goin' on under my clothes, amiright?  And if I'm being honest here, most of the shirts I own these days are too clingy for my taste. I think I'm gaining too much weight...or the shirts could be shrinking...Yeah, I like that, lets go with that! ;)

So, I've come up with a really good solution to the too tight, too short problem. I took two shirts and formed them into one miracle shirt! 

 Enjoy this fun tutorial! 

      First, decide which shirt is going to be your main shirt. The other shirt will be for accents.  With the main shirt, cut the side seam open about 10 inches from the bottom. Do this on both sides. (I would have used the seam ripper for this, but since my shirts are knit, I didn't want to rip holes. And lets face it, scissors are faster.) It should look like this:

Next, you're going to cut out two triangle pieces of fabric to make inserts where you cut up the sides seams of the main shirt.  With the accent shirt, I measured 6 inches across the bottom, at an angle measured up 10 inches and at the "point" of the triangle, I made it 1 inch across. (This could vary depending on how loose you want your shirt) Cut out two of these.

 Turn the main shirt inside out. Lay the triangle (right side down) and pin the triangle to the shirt. You want to pin the right sides of the fabric to each other. Once that is done, sew it together. I used a zig zag stitch. Not sure if this is the correct way to do it, but I've found that zig zag works well on knit fabrics. There is actually a special needle you can buy for this, but I don't have one. I think it's called a double needle.

 Now your shirt should be wider than before and not clingy.

To Lengthen your shirt: 

You need to decide how much longer you want your shirt to be. I cut 4" wide and gave myself 1/4" seam allowances. You'll need to measure around the bottom of the shirt to decide how long your strip of fabric needs to be. The best way is to carefully line up your shirt and measure across and double that number. My measurement was 28"x2. But it will probably be different for you. (If you don't have one continuous strip of fabric the length you need, you can sew them together like I did below.)

Once that's taken care of, you need to pin the strip of fabric (right sides together) on the hem of the main shirt.  Then sew all the way around the hem of the shirt. I used a straight stitch on this part. I'm not sure why, I just did. Once you get to the end, you need to sew the two ends of your fabric strip together. Do this carefully, I messed mine up twice.  Oh, and pay no attention to that seam ripper in the picture...I didn't use it, it was just there.

Lastly, if you have any raw edges that you need to hem, you should do this now.

 Wasn't that easy? Now you have a one of a kind shirt that's pretty and comfortable!

I'm so ready for spring...can you tell? =)

These are the accessories I added to my outfit. I got the shoes for 25 cents at a yard sale 2 years ago. The flower barrette is from H&M (on clearance) and I made that bracelet. 

Thanks for reading! I hope this tutorial helps someone salvage shirts they may have thrown away! =) 

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Ok, So This Isn't A Tutorial....

So, this isn't a tutorial, but a shameless plug for my online shop. =)  I've started making wire rings. Today, I finally uploaded them to my store at Zibbet.com.  I can make any of these rings in US standard sizes 1-15. 

I'd love it and appreciate it if everyone who reads this, goes to my shop and takes a look. Oh! And if you could recommend or share my zibbet page with your friends and family, that would be aces! =D 

Thanks in advance!  

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Fooler Top Tutorial

Since I last refashioned, I decided to go to college full time. And by "go to", I mean enroll in an online university and attend class in my jammies. =) It has kept me super busy though. So that explains why I haven't had time to refashion. I'm on my winter break right now, so I have extra time to be creative. Yay!

Today, I refashioned this:



It all started with the boots. I got these amazing boots on Black Friday. Since I've gained some weight (I really shouldn't have eaten all those sugar cookies while doing homework), I had been looking for a pair of cheap boots with an extended calf. Not that my calves were all that small before the weight gain, but I digress. I got this pair of boots at Payless.

The original price was $69.99 and I got them for $16.99! I know right? I couldn't believe it either! Anyhow, I got on Pinterest to find cute ways to wear my new favorite boots. I found this outfit that I LOVE:

I tried this look the other day. I went "shopping" in my boyfriend's closet to find a long sleeved dress shirt to wear under my grey cable knit sweater. It did NOT look good. And certainly not as cute as the above picture. It could have something to do with the fact that I'm about 6 sizes bigger (at least) than that model. But I'm also gonna say the bulk of both the shirt and the sweater was unflattering. After this, I decided to make a "Fooler Top" (A sweater with cuffs, a collar, and hem). I didn't realize this type of shirt had a name until I googled the description of it. I dug through my big pile of yardsale and goodwill clothes until I found a pink sweater that was too short from being shrunk in the dryer and a short sleeve dress shirt that was WAY too tight (see first picture....EEK!). I figured these two items would make a super cute Fooler Top.

Here's how I did it:

Before I did anything, I ironed the dress shirt. It's way easier to cut without all the wrinkles. Next I spread it out on the floor to mark and cut it. I started with the cuffs. My cuffs have two buttons and a slit above them. I marked 1" above the slit with blue chalk and cut the cuff off the shirt. Then I repeated it on the other cuff.



To cut the collar of the shirt off, I measured and marked 2.5" from the collar out towards the shoulder. Next, I made a mark between the 2nd and 3rd buttons on the shirt. I chalked a straight line from the marks on the shoulders to the mark in between the buttons.

Once the lines were marked, I cut through both layers of the shirt on the straight line.

For the hem, I put the sweater on top of the shirt to see how far I wanted the hem to stick out. Then I made a mark with the chalk so I would know later on where to sew the hem.

Next I measured 2.5" up the side seams and marked it with chalk. (This measurement is a preference. It all depends on how far you want the shirt tail to stick out from under the sweater.)



Once I measured and marked both sides, I made a line with chalk from one side to the other. Then I cut along the line.

This is what all the pieces look like after they are cut out.



The next step was to zig zag the raw edges with the sewing machine.

This is what the zig zagged edges will look like.

I ran into a problem here...The cuff from the dress shirt is way bigger than the sleeve of the sweater. So I pinned the dress shirt cuff to the sweater sleeve (sweater inside out and cuff right side out...I do it this way because the cuff will be folded up). And took off the excess material to make it match.

Next, I sewed the cuff to the sleeve. Then I did the same with the other cuff.

I pinned the collar to the sweater. I did this with the collar right side out and the sweater right side out so I could see where to sew. 

I ran into another problem here. I sewed all along the seam of the neckline. However, when I tried the sweater on, my head wouldn't fit through the neckhole. So, I took a little bit of the front seam out with my seam ripper. Then I unbuttoned the collar completely, strategically placed and sewed both sides of the button placket to the sweater by hand with a few stitches. You can see where I hand sewed with grey thread in the above picture. 

To sew the shirt tail on, I spread it out against the hem of the sweater. 

Since the shirt tail was smaller than the sweater, I cut the front and back of the shirt tail apart.

Lastly,

I pinned the shirt tail to the sweater where I thought it looked nice and sewed all the way around.

Now I have a top that I like and will actually wear and I think it came out close to the style of the Pinterest picture. It was alot easier to do than I imagined it would be and I think it looks totes presh with my new boots! ;)