Two T-Shirt Reconstructions (tutorials)

After Halloween I purchased 3 t-shirts for 70% off the origional price which made for a great deal for me. The problem was that they all shrunk in the wash to sizes I can't imagine many people could have fit into. One of them I couldn't even begin to fit over my head. Luckily there are methods of stretching one's t-shirt to a better fit.

So I thought I'd do a couple of fast recons- each taking less then 15 minutes to do. (the second will only take you about a minute)

So let's start.



These are the shirts I purchased (the black one is the one that really shrunk)

So I started with the purple.

Fold it so that your side seams match up.



Next at the top of your shirt cut a triangle out like so.



Repeat cutting triangles down your shirt as far as you like to go.



Next fold your shirt over about an inch like so;



Cut triangles down a second row stopping right below the last one on the first row.



Repeat that process until you've gone as far over as you want to go. I put a bright colored t-shirt under mine so you can see what it looks like when finished.



Stratch the back of your shirt and then remove the hem of your shirt.



Cut fringe along the bottom of your shirt.



Stretch out fringe.



My cat decided to see what I was up to at this point.



I decided I wanted the fringe on my sleeves to be as long as possible so I removed the seam in my sleeve using a seam ripper but if you don't want to do this part you can just cut off the hem and begin to cut fringe on your sleeve if you want.



Stretch out fringe on sleeves.



Take two strands on fringe on the sleeves only and tie them into knots.





Finished!










For the second top start by cutting the collar away from the back of the t-shirt.



Cut the collar away from the front as far down as you want to go without actually removing the collar.



Clean up the collar then lay your shirt so the top side seams meet.



Cut out a pie wedge shape so that your shirt becomes off-the shoulder.



Stretch the shirt so it curls and you're done!

DIY Slit Back Dress (With small tutorial)

I started out with this funeral looking wool black dress from the 1980s.



I had to begin by altering the dress to better fit me. It sat a little too low in the sleeves so I removed them and raised them up slightly.



Then I removed the zipper from the back of the dress. The dress was fully lined which made things really easy for me. All I had to do was pin the lining back to the dress and sew.



I then added a hook and eye at the top of the dress to fasten the dress together.




I then re-attached the sleeves and determined how short I wanted them. I wanted quarter length sleeves.






I cut and hemmed the sleeves to my desired length.






Lastly I shortened the skirt and re-hemmed both the lining and the dress.

Sexy Open Back Dress Tutorial

What You'll Need:
1 Matching top and bottom set.
1 Sewing Machine
1 serger (optional)
Seam ripper
Tailors Chalk
Measuring Tape
Fabric Scissors
Scrap Fabric
Buttons






1. Start with a matching top and bottom set.

2. Begin by deconstructing the skirt- for me this meant removing the elastic band.





3. Remove the first tier of your skirt from the bottom and remove the gathering stitch along the bottom tier (you'll need to put in another one anyway). Iron both pieces.





4. Measure about 3-4 inches above your navel and measure around yourself there. That will be your waist measurment. Cut your fabric inculding your seam allowances (for me this was an extra 2 inches)








5. You're going to need a front and a back for your waist band- for me this just meant cutting my original waist band in half.



6. To make it possible for you to get into your dress, cut open the center back of both your waist bands.

7. Serge the open ends or overlock using the zig-zag stitch on your machine.






8. I pressed my seams down with stitch witchery and then sewed down to secure.








9. Cut open the center back of your skirt and serge or interlock your seams with your zig-zag stitch. Press down the seam with stitch witchery and sew as you did before with the waist band.






10. Set your stitch length on your machine to the longest length and your tension to the hightest. Sew a straight line along the top of your skirt and you should get a gather.

11. Fit your skirt to your waist band by pulling on the gather string until it is the right size. (I forgot to photograph this part).

12. Pin and sew the front and back of your waist band to the skirt of your dress.










Believe it or not you just finished the difficult part. Those gathers can wear a person out, I think I re-did mine 4 times. How many did you have to re-gather yours?

13.Next take out your top and mark out on the back. (note your shirt should be loose fitting on you).



14. Cut the excess off of your shirt.



15. I had these little flappy things on the inside of my collar, if you do to just remove the one on the back.



16. Next cut out along the marks you made before (be sure to only do this on the back and to leave seam allowance)



17. Cut your center back open.







18. If you pin your pieces onto your dress form you should begin to see it take shape.




19. Next, using your seam ripper take apart the pieces of your top.



20. Make sure that the two back pieces are the same and then using your scrap fabric and tailors chalk trace out two new pieces for the inside lining of your back.


Ghost? It didn't appear in the picture I took right after. WEIRD!




21. Cut your pieces out. Pin the right sides of your fabric together and sew along the outside curves.



22. Turn right side out and press.



23. Top stitch.



24. Sew the shoulder seams back together.



25. ...and the side seams.





26. Re-attach your sleeves.





27. Going back to your skirt, press down and in the top seam of your waist band.



28. Mark the center front of both your skirt and bodice and align them together.



29. Pin your bodice between the two pieces of your waist band.




30. Also pin shut the side seam of your waist band and sew shut.



31. The last thing you will do will be to add buttons and button holes along the seam you created before with your stitch witchery and on the back of your bodice.



And you are done! Rock it!