Monday, August 9, 2010

Alterations

I haven't done much garment sewing for a long, long time, but recently I remodeled some readymade knit shirts that I had purchased to make them more appealing and stylish. For one of the projects I started with two basic crew neck t-shirts that I bought at JoAnn's when they were on sale for $2 each. With one of them I removed the ribbing around the neck and cut the sleeves off. Using the second shirt, I cut new sleeves that were 3/4 length and then cut strips of fabric across the torso part of the shirt to use for a new neckline finish and some ruffles. It didn't take much time at all and I'm much happier with the shirt now. Here are a couple pictures of the finished project.





And I bought two ivory long sleeved shirts on clearance at Walmart a couple months for $1 each. I cut one up and made flowers, then handstitched them around the neckline of the second shirt to add some detail and interest. Much better, don't you think?



With the minimal cost of the shirts to start with, it wasn't much of a gamble to work on these because if they didn't turn out right it was no huge loss of my investment. Now they look more like boutique shirts that would have cost much, much more in a specialty shop. Fun projects!

8 comments:

Plumruncreek ♥ said...

Very cute!! Love the shirts!!

Rugs and Pugs said...

Gayle ~
Very clever! The shirts are too cute.
Lauren

bayrayschild said...

You are a smart and creative lady!
Love what you've done!

Audrey

Nedra said...

You always know how to make something really cute for very little $$.
One of your crowning talents.
Your cruise looks like a lot of fun. We did an Alaskan cruise a few years ago, and it rained solid. Every excursion we signed up for was basically cancelled, so we were a little disappointed.

Joanne said...

Wow Gayle! You are very ambitious! They came out so cute. Love that white one!

Wendie Scott Davis said...

These t-shirts are amazing! So feminine and lovely now - and I bet before they were JUST t-shirts. I'm inspired!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

WoW! Awesome job!

Angie Berry ~ Berry Homespun Primitives said...

How neat! That's wonderful that you took $1 and $2 shirts and made them look like they cost so much more than that!