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wardrobe refashion: t-shirt to cardigan

A few days ago I went to straighten up downstairs for house guests and I found this shirt in the closet. I forgot that my mom had left it for me after her last visit. She wasn’t happy with how the v-neck looked. When I tried it on, I thought the same thing. It didn’t look bad; it just didn’t look great. It was a nice size on me, though. I liked the colors and it’s really soft.

t-shirt to cardigan

I decided to turn it into a cardigan. I’m always chilly in the summer when I’m inside in the air conditioning. I think this will be perfect to throw over a tank top or short sleeve shirt.

t-shirt to cardigan

How I Did It
• Made the bias tape out of some black cotton from my stash.
• Removed the buttons.
• Cut a straight line from the v-neck to the bottom.
• Sandwiched the raw edge in the bias tape and pinned.
• Sewed all the way around 1/8 inch from the inside edge of the tape.
• Sewed all the way around 1/8 inch from the outside edge of the tape.

I really like how it turned out. I did an ok job sandwiching the edges in the bias tape. I may fiddle with how I do that in the future. Overall, I think my first wardrobe refashion was a success!

refashion: If you have a shirt that you really like, but it doesn’t fit well, turn it into a cardigan. Cotton for bias tape from my stash, shirt from my mom.

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ruffling up some boys t-shirts

When I go to Neat Repeatz, I check the girls clothing first, then head over to the boys clothing. Why? Most of the time the boys stuff is a lot cooler. A girl can only have so many pink shirts with flowers and hearts. What about dinosaurs? Cars? Trains? I never see those in the girls section. It’s always Dora, Dora, Dora. My daughter doesn’t even watch Dora. She likes Thomas the Tank Engine, Lightening McQueen and Mickey Mouse.

On my last trip, I found two shirts I knew Bella would love. They were 3T, but a little too short for my tall toddler. I was afraid they wouldn’t last until the end of the season. Inspired by Rachel’s tutorial for lengthening pants, I added a few inches to the shirts with some ruffle trim.

ruffle shirt

Both were iTalk shirts, so I removed the big patch on the front and tossed the little computer chip thingie, which didn’t work in either shirt. Then I washed them so the holes from the patch stitches would close up a bit.

ruffle shirt

I used about a yard of ruffle trim for each shirt. After a few attempts to pin the ruffle to the hem, I just put it in the machine and aligned it as I went.

ruffle trim

I’m really happy with how these turned out. Both shirts took less than an hour to sew up. Bella was a little worried when she saw them in the machine. “What are you doing with my Lightening McQueen shirt, mom?” When I showed her the finished shirt, she loved it.

refashion: Adding trim is a great way to freshen up an old t-shirt, especially one that’s too short.

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siouxsie t-shirt tote bag

Thanks to some artful sewing inspiration, I’ve finished a project that has been sitting in the to-do pile for way too long.

I wanted to turn one of my ’80s Siouxsie shirts into a tote, but didn’t want a typical floppy t-shirt bag. My friend was planning to throw away (yes, throw away!) this black conference tote. You know the kind: plastic-y canvas material covered in screen-printed logos.

siouxsie before

I used the bag to measure my pieces of the t-shirt and boxed the bottom of both; sewing through the canvas was easier than I thought! Then I slid the t-shirt over the canvas bag, folded down the top and stitched all the way around. I stitched in some velvet ribbon for a tie closure.

siouxsie bag after

siouxsie bag after

This was such an easy way to make a t-shirt bag. I’m really happy with the results and can’t wait to start using it!

recycle: t-shirt came from my closet, tote bag saved from the landfill, velvet ribbon ties from thrifted notions in my stash

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easy kids shorts pattern

from the julie-bird.com archives

UPDATE: Thanks to the Craft Magazine blog for their link to my pattern!

I’ll say right up front, this isn’t an original idea. There are lots of tutorials on the web on how to make kids pants, like here and here. There’s also a cool how-to in The Creative Family.

I also need to note that my daughter really doesn’t need any more pants. She has plenty, and it’s too hot to wear them now anyway. So, I did the next best thing. I made her shorts! (Shhh… she has plenty of shorts, too. I just really wanted to sew these and was looking for an excuse!)

easy kid shorts

They turned out nice. The t-shirt fabric is from one of my old Gap shirts that has a little stretch to it. I didn’t make them too snug, and hopefully they’ll last through the rest of the season.

easy toddler shorts

I used a pair of her shorts as my pattern and traced them onto paper first. The template fits on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, so I figured why not share it with the blog world? You can download it here.

Drop me a line and let me know if you make a pair. I’d love to see a photo if you do! Also, this is my first attempt at writing a sewing pattern. Please let me know if something isn’t clear!

recycle: Use large t-shirts instead of new fabric to make soft, comfy kids clothing.