Bow Shoulder Shirt - T shirt remake tutorial!

I love love LOVE this, and can't wait to make one! I especially like the stripes - they set the bows off perfectly.

To see how to take a cheap long sleeve t-shirt and turn it in to this, look here.

Heart Corsage Shirt - Tshirt refashion tutorial!

Who doesn't have a few boring t-shirts laying around? Here's a really easy and fun way to breathe some new life into your basics.

What you need:

- plain fitted t-shirt (this works best on one with a scoop or v-neckline)

- jersey/knit/tshirt scraps in desired colors (ones that will complement the t-shirt. I used 3 different colors)

Here's the t-shirt I started with in white (mine is blue):

Step 1: Cut heart shapes out of the knit scraps. If you don't know how, here's the short cut for cutting a heart (in the middle image, the fold is on the right edge):

I think I used about 20 hearts, but it really depends on how big you want your corsage to be and the size of your t-shirt. Also, I originally didn't cut enough and had to go back to make more, so don't worry too much about the exact number. You can always add or subtract some.

Step 2: Lay the hearts out along the neckline or wherever you want them on the shirt, overlapping and imperfect. You have two choices here: you can pin them to the shirt, which will take a lot of pins but ensure you get the exact design you want, or you can get an idea of what you want and then free hand it (which is what I did). Sorry, no picture of this one. Look at the completed picture for guidance.

Step 4: Staring at the shoulder, stitch the hearts down. Make sure you fold and twist them a little as you go to give them some structure and dimension. Also: I used white thread, and didn't want to sew over the navy and grey hearts I had with the white thread. So, I kept my white hearts mainly on top and placed my colored ones so that sewing on the white hearts would take them down as well.

Step 5: Sewing the hearts down can be a little tiring, so take a break and chat with a friend. The furrier the better.

Step 6: Finish tacking down your hearts. Then, try the shirt on - you'll probably realize that some spots look a little bare or that you didn't go up or down far enough along the neckline. Easy to fix - stick a few more hearts on where needed.

And here you go! The fun thing about this is you can do as much or as little as you want, in whatever color combinations you want.



Here's a better picture of the detail (the only full length one I had obviously didn't turn out so well!)



Don't forget to enter in my giveaway for a cute summer dress - there aren't many entries so far so the odds are looking good!

Also, the first summer of skirts tutorial is coming tomorrow! I also have a few more in progress, so keep checking back.

The "Cabo" Dress - version 2!

I love, love, love this dress! It is super comfortable, and unlike the original Cabo dress it isn't see through at all!

With this dress, I followed the same steps as the original Cabo dress tutorial. Then, I followed Disney from Ruffles and Stuff 's instructions (the link to these is on the cabo tutorial) to make the braided straps and belt. I used t-shirt scraps left over from the original Cabo dress from that.

For the ruffle on the front of the dress, I cut strips from a ribbed tank top (the same one I used for the Dorothy Dress!) I gathered a small amount, and the sewed over the top of the navy ruffle. Make sure you do this before putting the elastic in the top!

The possibilities for this basic t-shirt dress are endless! Post links if you make any!

Also, sorry about the weird pictures... I don't know how but it looks like I screwed them up a little!

The "Cabo" Dress Tutorial - T shirt refashion

I came up with this dress quite a while ago. It was so easy and cute, I decided to make a tutorial but I never got around to posting it. After seeing Disney's from Ruffles and Stuff adorablebeachcomber tutorial, I thought I would post it since it is essentially an adult version of her dress!

What you'll need:

- The biggest T-shirt you can find - at least XL

- elastic to fit around your ribs under your armpits

Directions:

1) Start with your T-shirt. It's very important that you get a giant one!

2) Cut the sleeves and collar off the shirt. Cut as little as possible off the top, or the dress will be too short!

3) Cut along the seams of the sleeves so they open up.

4) Now, sew the ends of the sleeves together to form a tube. This will be your ruffle! Also, sew up the sides of the shirt where you cut the sleeves off. Make sure you taper your seam down the bottom of the arm hole though, so you don't have funny puckers where your sewing ends.

4) Here comes the slightly tricky part. You need to attach the tube to the inside of the shirt so that it is inside of the t shirt, and so that you can flip it out and have both right sides facing out. Basically, we are attaching it and making an elastic casing with it.

Here is a close up (sorry it's sideways..) of the correct way to do this. If you pull the ruffle out from the shirt after you sew it (so it isn't inside of it anymore), the seams should look like this.

5) Now, pull the ruffle down over the right side of the dress. The right side of both the ruffle and the shirt should now be showing. Next, stitch along the top of the ruffle, leaving room between your stitch and the seam attaching it to the main dress for the elastic to be threaded though. Stop your stitch about half an inch before the place you started.

6) Through the gap you left, thread the elastic through the casing. Sew the ends together once it's through all the way.

7) Now, here's the creative part! You can leave it as is, like I did with this one, and pair it with an awesome belt. Or, you can make a casing around the waist and thread some elastic through.

Or, make braided straps and a belt like Disney did in her beachcomber dress!! I'm going to have to try that next :)

Check out this awesome fuchsia vintage belt - I got it for 2 bucks at a thrift store! I think it looks pretty great with the dress!

I think this dress would be especially cute in a navy blue, with a striped sash and braided straps like in Disney's tutorial. What do you guys think? If you make this, post your links!

Ruffle Pillow Tutorial

These are really easy to make, and really cute!

What you'll need:
-2 pieces of cotton in the desired color a little bigger than the size you want your pillow to be
-poly fill/stuffing/batting
-strips of jersey or knit (you can use a t shirt for this!), enough to cover the length of the pillow with them slightly overlapping. The length of the strips should be the width of the pillow plus another half.

Step 1: Sew a gathering stitch down each strip, then gather to the width of the pillow.

Step 2: I forgot to take a picture at this step, but it's pretty straightforward. Sew each of the ruffles to the cotton, slightly overlapping. This works best if you start at the bottom, then sew the next one so the bottom of it slightly overlaps and hides the seam of the first ruffle. I left a slight gap on the top because I didn't want the ruffles to go all the way to the top, then stitched a ribbon along the top ruffle.

Step 3: Sew the two cotton pieces together, making sure to catch the ruffles in the pillow at the right place. Then, stuff the pillow and sew up the opening. You're done!

Ruffle Rose Tank - Tshirt Refashion Tutorial Part II

Here's the second part of the ruffle rose tank tutorial - the rose appliques!

Step 1: Pull out those strips you cut earlier. Make sure your top thread matches the fabric that you're using. Grab the end of one of the strips and fold it over into a little scrunched design- there's really no rhyme or reason to this,so just do what you think looks good for the center. Pin it on your shirt where you want the center of the rose to go.

Step 2: Put the presser foot down on the center of your rose, and start to sew. Sew a little ways past the center on the strip, then fold the strip at a 90 degree angle, and sew down a short ways. Flip the strip again, this time at a slightly bigger angle. Continue doing this all the way around in a spiral, until the rose is the size you're looking for. This may sound really confusing, but if you look at the pictures and give it a try you'll figure it out- it's really easy, and the best part is it doesn't have to be perfect. Every rose will be unique.

Step 3: Once you have the rose the size you want, cut the remainder of the strip off so you have about an inch. Tuck it under the last layer in a way that hides the edge, then stitch to the end.You're done! These really just take practice-you can get creative with them and figure out different ways to fold them as you're sewing. Follow the pictures and you should be fine!

NOTE: If you flip the fabric over and look at the back, the bobbin thread should be tracing a spiral out on the shirt. This can really help guide you if your rose is looking a little crooked or lopsided!

Enjoy! Post links to pictures if you make any of these!

Flower Ruffle Tank - Tshirt refashion tutorial, Part I

This project resulted in what is now my favorite shirt. The best part? It cost me 2 dollars and took half an hour. AND, no hemming, because it's a cotton knit!

What you need:
-A blank cotton Tshirt - either new or used, but it needs to be as big as possible. Michaels has them for 3 dollars, sometimes on sale for 2. I wear a small and bought a XXL, but I also only used about half of the extra fabric.
-Thread matching the color of your shirt-A tank top that will be used as your cutting guideline

Step 1: Lay out the tank top on top of the t shirt. Line up the part that goes over your shoulders with the fold on the t shirt. Make sure it's centered, or it will fit weird.

Step 2: Cut it out! First, cut the bottom strip off so the length is correct.Keep in mind how tightly the tank top you're cutting around fits, and how much tshirt material stretches (it does, but not as much as ribbed tank tops do!) Either way, leave at least about an inch on each side as a seam and error allowance- you can alter it to fit better later. Make sure that the shoulder pieces stay together (so the back and front are still connected). Cut out the desired shape and depth of your neckline as well.

Step 3: Sew the sides together. Now let's look at the fabric you cut off. First, look a the strip you cut off the bottom. You'll want to cut this in to strips about 3/4 of an inch. You will need at least a couple of these; I would suggest three. If you don't have enough fabric to do this, you'll have to use some of the fabric you cut off the sides for it. These strips will be for the roses, which I'll get to later. The picture below doesn't show these (sorry).

Step 4: Cut the sleeves off of the extra side material you have. Then, cut the shoulder, so it lays flat. Now, you'll cut the ruffles out. Measure around your neckline, from front to back to front again. Multiply this number by somewhere between 1.5 to2 (2 will be fuller ruffles, 1.5 will be a little more subtle), then cut strips from the fabric and sew them together to get the correct length (that got when you you multipled before). When do you this, make sure you cut a smooth line as these won't be hemmed! Any jagged edges will show and look bad.

Step 5: Sew the ends of the ruffle together (so you have a loop), then do a running stitch down the length of it. Gather and pin to your neckline with the shirt INSIDE OUT, and the raw edges together. This way, whe you turn the shirt right side in, you should be able to flip the ruffle over and the raw edges will be hidden. Flip the ruffle, the sew it in place all the way around.

Ruffle pinned to wrong side, before sewing:

And after (it looks a little crooked in the picture, but it isn't I promise!):

Check back tomorrow for part two: making the rose appliques! I promise they're super easy (each one took me about 2 minutes) and look beautiful!


For Part Two Click HERE