2 T-shirts Done 2 Ways

 It's the last day of Scarves for a while anyway.  These were fun to put together and play with different options.

I did learn something I hadn't realized before.

Not all t-shirts are made the same.

I mean that some of them have side seams, and some don't.  All the one's I got at Goodwill have side seams.

It's not a deal breaker, but it definitely changes what you can do with them.

Since my husband won't part with any of his t-shirts right now, I may go back to Goodwill and see if I can find some without side seams, but for now, I'm happy with what I have.

You need to find a shirt that is XL or XXL to make sure you have enough fabric.

Let's start cutting!

Cut up the t-shirt into 1 1/2 inch strips.  Cut out the sleeves and the bottom hem.

I kept cutting all the way up to the neckline.  Since I have side seams,

I have to join each strip anyway so I can use the upper chest portion between the sleeves.

Now that you have all the strips, cut off the seams and fold 2 strips over.

Cut about a 1/8-1/4 inch through both strips like shown.

Lay the strips end to end.

Lay one strip on top of the other.

Take the other end of the bottom strip and poke it through the holes you cut.

Pull tight and you've joined the two strips.

Continue this process adding all the strips you cut.

Then holding each knot, pull the fabric to stretch it and curl the edges.

It will nearly double the length of each strip and 'finish' the edges.

Drape one end around your neck to decide how big you want the smallest circle.

Then coil up the rest of the fabric, gradually getting bigger with each loop.

Take the 2 ends and tie them around all strands of fabric.

I wrapped the ends in a criss-cross pattern then tied a double knot at the end.

Tuck the loose ends into the knot.

Done!

 Now for the Tan shirt.  It's very similar, with a few minor changes.

Cut the shirt apart all the way including the hem and sleeve seams.

I originally thought the side seams wouldn't matter, but they do.

I cut about a 2 1/2 in strip in a spiral working up to the top of the shirt.

Cut out the side seams and join the strips in the same manner as above with the slits.

Here's the bottom layer poked through the slits.

Pull the strips tight to form the knot.

Stretch each edge of the strips of fabric to curl them into a slight ruffled edge.

With some of the sleeve fabric cut two strips about 1 inch wide.

Stretch the strips to roll the edges.

Find the 2 ends of the large piece and join them together overlapping about 4-6 inches.

Tie with the rolled strips you just made.

Start tying single knots with the loose ends like shown.

Start from the top and work down, then start from the bottom and work up.

Your knots should meet in the middle.  Tuck the loose ends inside the knots.

The finished knots should look like this.

 Loop it around your neck and you're done!

Thanks for joining me today.

Next week will be all things Valentines. decor, bunting, printables, treat baskets, and photography ideas for Valentines Cards.

Have a fabulous day!

Some Tee's for Christmas

 I get inspiration from many sources.  This Christmas time my kiddo's are getting Tees that were inspired by American Eagle.  They were super easy to make, and totally customized for each kid.

Here's the inspiration.  Source.

 I don't have them modeled because the shirts are going to be gifts so the hanger on the door will have to do for today.

I cut out the first initial for each kid, along with the year they were born out of freezer paper.

Then I ironed on the freezer paper on the shirt where I wanted the letters.

Next I used black craft paint and brushed the edges to get the outlines of the letters.

After they dried completely, I cut out 3 layers of other colored T-shirt material of the letter.

Pin it in place and sew around the edge.

Simple.  

Done.

 For my youngest, the shirt isn't big enough for the whole year, so I just put the last two numbers of the year.  All other steps were the same.

My oldest gets a much bigger letter, 

...well because he's much bigger than the rest.  

Already taller by a few inches than his mama.  Sigh...

Lastly, I had some left over T-shirt material and came up with this upcycle for my girl.  

Again no modeling pics.  It's a gift.  Here's the how to.

This is what I started with.  Two long sleeves, a cropped pink tee that I had cut up for another project, and a larger size gray tee.

First I cut the neckline out of the pink Tee.

Next I cut off the bottom part of the larger Gray Tee.  This will be the bottom half of the shirt.

Here's what it will look like when it's done.

I don't know how to photo this part effectively, but just pull and stretch the edges of the gray piece.  This essentially finishes the raw cut edges and gived it a nice rolled 'hem'.  Absolutely no real sewing involved.

The long sleeves were sewn onto the inside of the pink top.  It was a little tricky to lay it out right and it's ok that the thread doesn't match.  We are going to cover that up.

Next pin the bottom gray piece to the top pink one, Wrong sides together.  Weird I know, but I love the raw ruffle-y edge it gives.  I didn't gather anything, just some random pin tucks as I sewed it in place.

 Here's two pics of the two pieces sewed together.  I really like the pleated edge.

Now for the neckband.  I had two long strips of pink material.  Again pull it to stretch the fabric and 'finish' the edge.  Lay one on top of the other and push the fabric up under the foot as you go to gather it.  Keep it completely random.  It's cuter that way.

I followed the same method of scrunch sewing strips around the top of the sleeve where the two pieces meet.

Here's a close-up of the finished neckline and sleeve.

 I thought the neckline would be too huge on my girl so I added a  super thin piece of elastic to the inside of the neckline.  It gathered it up nicely.

The shirt needed a little something more, so I cut four circles of the gray of varying sizes.

 Stretch the edges of the discs and layer them on top of one another, smallest to largest.

 I took a scrap of the pink strips and sewed it in a circle on top of the layered discs to create the flower.

 And done.  I can't wait to give it to her.  

Sweet and Cute!

Only a few more days.  I better get crackin'!