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 

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DIY Summer Shorts Refashion Tutorial ~ 3 Different Hem Styles ~

There are lots of reasons one might want to make their own shorts from jeans or pants. 

The biggest complaint I've heard from my friends is they can't buy jean shorts for their kids that are long enough.  This would be perfect for that problem!  

Other reasons would be if you get a hole or a stain in the knee or bottom part of the leg of your pants.

Another reason would be if your child grew up but not out and their pants were now too short. Making them shorts would be a great solution. 

I  just want to point out, I've saved so much money refashioning clothes instead of buying brand new.

I really only shop at thrift shops and yard sales anymore.

Refashioning is a real money saver! =)

 

The first pair of shorts I did this time was for my jeans (capris?) I'm not sure what these were exactly. I got them at a yardsale and they are petites, so I can't decide if they are pants or capris. 

I wanted to make a nice regular hem on my shorts.

The first thing I did was try the pants on.  Then I took a white marking pencil and made a line where I wanted the final hem to be.  I also made a line 1.5" below the top line.

Next, I cut along the bottom line. On both legs.

Then I turned the (now) shorts inside out.  I made a line 1.5" above the raw edge with the white pencil.

I folded the raw edge up twice until it met up with the white line that I made. 

I pinned all around the fold to hold it in place.

I sewed close to the top of the folded edge all the way around the pant leg.

And here is the final product! 

=)

Next up...Cuffed shorts...

  

For this tutorial, I used a pair of my daughter's capri-type pants to transform them into a cuffed denim short. 

I purchased these at a yardsale at the beginning of summer and it looks like the previous owner must have tried to make a pair of capris from jeans.

I had my daughter try on the pants and

I marked where I wanted the final length of the shorts (while she was wearing them). Apparently, this tickled, because she started laughing uncontrollably. =)   Then I marked a line 1.5" below that line. I used a regular pencil this time because the white pencil line wasn't noticeable.

I cut along the bottom line to make shorts.

Keeping the jeans right side out,
 I folded the raw edge up twice until it lined up with the pencil line I made and pinned.

Lastly, I sewed along the top of the folded edge all around the jeans.

See how fun and cute they turned out? Love them! =) And my daughter said they are way comfy.

And finally...ruffled hem...

This tutorial also works great if you have already purchased a pair of shorts and they are too short. Or if your child's legs have gotten longer and their shorts look shorter. =) It's a great way to lengthen shorts. I suppose you could also lengthen pants or jeans this way as well.

I marked where I wanted the denim section of the shorts to end. (Pay no attention to the top line I made in the picture. This was done by mistake...I got confused, which, if I'm being honest, happens frequently when I'm sewing. =P  )

I cut along the bottom line.

The fabric I'm using for the ruffle came from a vintage sheet I got at a yard sale.  I have an obsession with vintage sheets...it's just so much material for so little money!  And I'm in love with this pattern! It's so pretty.

 

I measured around the pant leg and added a couple of inches. That's the length of fabric I cut from the sheet. I made the width 2" wide.  Because I'm lazy, I used the finished edge of the sheet, so I wouldn't have to hem it. =D

I sewed a gathering stitch on the raw edge of the flowered strip...this made an automatic ruffle.

With the right sides together, I pinned the raw edge of the ruffle to the raw edge of the denim.  (I overlapped a tiny bit at the end.) 

I sewed them together making sure to stitch just below the gathering stitch. 

Once I was done with that, I used a zigzag stitch on the raw edges of the ruffle on the inside of the shorts. 

The final step was to iron the ruffle down. 

Here is the end result! How cute are these?!?  I love them! They are so cutesy!

Thanks for reading! =) 

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