Refashioned Winter T

This was a pretty easy refashion of a boxy T-shirt to a cute & comfy turtle neck - here's how I did it.

Cutting:

1. Take a larger than you boxy T, a tank top sized T, & a couple more of desired color or pattern - size irrelevant
2. Lay out your boxy T (brown) flat on a cutting mat & cut the sides and arms straight off on both sides. Cut out the neckline just outside the neck facing stitching
3. Cut off the bottom hem straight (or you can do front higher & back longer)
4. Cut the bottom of your tank top off (brown speckled) - save it as the cowl neck piece
5. Cut 6 4" x 15" strips of your sleeve pieces - 2 strips of each color (brown speckled, yellow, brown)
6. Cut 2 4"x4" squares (the teal underarm gusset) - then cut them on the diagonal to make 4 triangles
7. Cut a bunch of squares to line the bottom of the shirt - your discretion as to what size. Mine were all 4"x 4" squares

Sewing: 

1. Sew your sleeves first by laying out  flat three of your 4"x15" pieces (long end to long end) with a 1/2" overlap - zigzag stitch those together. Do that twice (one for each arm)
2. layout your boxy t-shirt (brown main body) completely flat so that the neck hole is positioned in the middle of a big rectangle. Center the top of your sleeve piece (speckle brown) to the center of your shoulder line (overlap 1/2") and zigzag stitch it straight. Do that on both sides
3. Now sew the arm gusset triangles to the outside corners of the sleeve & body pieces
4. Take your bottom border squares & stitch them all together in a strip - stitch that strip to the front & back bottoms of the boxy-t (brown)
5. Fold your shirt back (right sides together) so that the front and back are facing each other - you are now going to sew the side seams. Sew all the way from the bottom of the shirt, around the arm gusset curve, and down the sleeve. I sewed from the TOP of my border to the sleeve because I wanted the border to be loose and then I curve cut the sides.
6. Once you have that all together, grab the bottom of your tank top (speckled brown) and sew it into your neckline - you can choose to keep the tank top hem as the hem for the top of your neckline - or cut it off - it's a matter of preference.

How all the pieces look laid out flat (Steps 1-4 )

Folded over & ready to stitch the side seam (step 5)

Credit to Sherwood Forest Faire since I used their T-shirt!

Ooh those denim skirts!

What could be more fun or comfortable for Spring (I'm in TX so spring comes early), than worn in denim combined with a breezy skirt. I see so many cute skirts in the thrift stores & my closet that just don't work by themselves anymore because they are either too small in the waist, or too short. What I have found is that some old denim jeans on top fix those skirts right up! Now they're the perfect size & length for cowboy or moccasin fringe boots!

Pick our your jeans and pick out a skirt & let's begin. I found a beautiful linen Ralph Lauren printed paisley skirt at a thrift store. I think I paid about $4. I knew it would be perfect for this project.

Marking

Start by making all your markings. You need to try on your jeans & mark where you want to cut them. Then measure around your hips at that mark so you can determine the diameter across the jeans & skirt pieces you need to make cutting lines. Ok - now take your pants off & get to work :-)! To get an even cutting line, you need to measure from the waistline down to your cut mark - then use that to create cutting marks around the circumference of your jeans (you'll use the same technique on the skirt)

To mark your skirt - use the diameter of your hip measurement and add 1 " for ease. The diameter is 1/2 of the total hip measurement, so if you have 44" hips, your diameter is 22", plus 1" for ease = 23". figure out where you can get a 23" diameter on your skirt & make a small mark/tick at the side seams. Use the same measure down technique to mark the cutting line all the way around the skirt.

Cutting

Cut your jeans (image #2) without cutting any of the pockets. Pull the front pockets inside out & pin them up & out of your way. Then pick the back pockets with a seam ripper & fold them up out of the way to cut. PS - use some really good sharp shears here - large sewing shears are best. Your hand muscles will thank you!

Sewing

FIRST... put a new, sharp, heavy duty sewing needle in your machine -- I promise you will not regret this step. I stitched mine with regular weight, good quality thread (avoid the $.50 cheapo spools for this project). I also bought heavy weight denim thread to do my top stitching.

Decide if you want a rough denim edge, or a clean stitch line. Line up and pin your skirt to your jeans matching the side seams, center front & center back. I use a 1/2" seam allowance.  Be sure to pin your pockets out of the way for sewing (safety pins work best for this). Straight stitch all around. I like to flip my garment right side out & top-stitch the seam allowance down for added seam strength.

Cuteness

Dress this skirt up with some super cute tops, jewelry & boots. Don't forget to accessorize with belts or scarfs too!

I've made 3 of these so far & each one has it's own personality & lessons learned. The fancy green one decorated with doilies is my last creation. I LOVE that one!

Happy sewing! -- Jill