Project Recycled Week Three: The T-Shirt Challenge

- February 13, 2012

I absolutely adore T-shirts.

They are readily available and I have been able to create some amazing crafts with them. So in hosting this upcycling challenge I had to throw a T-shirt challenge in the mix. The challengers got to take a plain old T-shirt and make whatever they could dream of out of it.

A HUGE congratulations to the winner of Week two: Emily from Domestic Deadline!

Emily of Domestic Deadline

Sadly we are at the part of the contest where we must begin to say goodbye to some very talented crafters. This week we are losing June of Creations By June. She is gone, but her wonderful crafty goodness will be remembered. Look for her exit interview on Wednesday.

When she's not crafting she hangs out with exotic men!

Now to week three after the jump.

Stripes Turned Skirts

Knits used to scare me but now I truly love working with them, especially old t-shirts, so I've been looking forward to this week's challenge! Even before Pinterest, we all searched the internet, magazines, stores and more for inspiration. One of my favorite bloggers is Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy. When I came across an enormous striped sleep shirt, I knew what I wanted to make:

Source: Uploaded by user via Mrs.G on Pinterest

Of course, wouldn't the whole outfit be wonderful in t-shirt fabric? Good thing I hoard t-shirt! Here's what I started with:

A pile of yellow scraps, a white maternity shirt, a long sleeved pink tee with pretty stitching that didn't lay flat and a huge striped sleep shirt that said "Property of Alcatraz" um, yeah! A few snips hear, a few stitches there, a bit of hot glue and a ribbon later and I'm pretty pleased with the results;

Now, if I could only make my kitchen look as good as Lindsey's!!!!!

Valentine's Day Dress

Hi everyone! Happy to be in week 3. This week I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I needed a Valentine's Day dress for my little girl and I needed to Recycle a t-shirt, so here is what I came up with. I started with one of my husband's old worn out t-shirts. I didn't like how the regular t-shirt collar looked, it was big and plain so I made a two layer collar from some of the t-shirt scraps.

I added the hearts by making a freezer paper stencil and fabric paint.

I like how soft the fabric feels because of the years of wear. When I hemmed the sleeves I stretched the fabric just a little as I sewed and it made them a little loose and flowy.

3 Shirts = 1 Girls Dress

I'm very pleased to be back again for Round Three, this week showing how I upcycled some old t-shirts into a little girl's top. I began with this pile of old t-shirts, but ended up not using the yellow t-shirt. All three garments I used had been women's t-shirts.

First up was to alter the neck line to suit a little girl.

Secondly, the t-shirt needed to be recut to a much smaller size. I used a child's t-shirt as a guide.

Cut off the sleeves.
Cut new armholes.
Take width from the sides.
Shorten the sleeves.
Reattach the new sleeves.
Finish the bottom of the sleeve with a band.

I used a pattern as a size guide for cutting the strips for the skirt.

Join the eight strips to form the skirt.
Hem.
Gather the top of the skirt.
Attach to the black t-shirt.

And to finish off, I used a black tie that was originally on the floral t-shirt.

Make a fabric flower.
Sew it to the black tie.
Make tabs to hold the belt.

front view...

back view...

There you have it, three old t-shirts turned into a little girl's top, ready to be worn with a pair of black leggings...
TShirt to sleeveless drawstring top and scrappy flower headband

T-shirt to fitted sleeveless top, and scrappy flower headband

A souvenir t-shirt from my wardrobe, originally purchased second hand because I liked the palm tree print on it. As a t-shirt, it's a bit boring, so I've changed its shape to a halter/sleeveless top for summer, by cutting off the sleeves, adding ribbon to the neckline for a tie, elastic around the waist, and taken it in either side.