T-Shirt Reconstruction: Installment III

Ok, I can feel the momentum building for our T Shirt Making Party on Sunday. We just had a nice shoot for ABC News this morning and I got to finish this shirt during filming. Here's how to proceed:

Start by cutting the bottom 2 inches off the sleeves of a regular t-shirt.



Then cut the rest of the sleeves off.



Then cut a scoopneck.



Then place darts around the bottom, three in the front and two in the back. Be sure you measure around your hips (where the bottom of the shirt will sit) to prevent making the shirt too small.



Cut the darts out and pin the fabric right sides together to sew the darts closed.



Sew about 1/4" from the edge of the pinned fabric. Backstitch at the bottom of the darts. At the apex of the darts you can leave the thread long and tie it in a knot to secure your stitches.



The darts should look like this when they are done (this is the inside of the shirt).



Next, take the 2" strips you cut off the sleeves and cut them in half so they form two strips. Sew the strips together to form one long strip.



Sew the two ends of the strip right sides together to form a circle. This will become the band at the bottom of your shirt. Pin the band to the shirt right sides together and sew a line of stitches all around.



Your shirt should look like this now:



For the trim I used strips of fabric that I folded and then sewed onto the shirt. To get the v-neck I pinched the bottom of the scoopneck to make a triangle and sewed a straight line on the inside (much like a dart) to hold it in place. The circles I also simply cut out and sewed directly onto the shirt. This is your chance to get creative - viva la craft! See you Sunday!