T-Shirt Refashion

Yesterday, I received a big box from Alicia stuffed full of super fun crafts to work on. I'm so excited to get going on all of them! This morning, I decided to sit down with the t-shirt refashion project she sent me.

At first, I felt completely out of my league - I've never sewn an adult sized piece of clothing, not even from a pattern! I wasn't sure I was going to have any idea what to do. But, I started sketching some ideas and then they just started tumbling in. It's so fun to run free with a project, without a "destination" in mind! With so many different ideas flying around, it felt a bit like listening to the make believe games my son and daughter play. They go something like this:

Her: Ok, pretend we're checking in to a hotel and going on vacation. Look at my pink suitcase - it has wheels!

Him: Right, ok. And then ninjas infiltrate the hotel lobby! And it's all hi-ya and whip-pew!

Her: Uh, ok. Then, me and my sister put on our pretty swimsuits and go to the pool.

Him: Yes! And we can have a race!

Her: Uh huh, or maybe we could try on clothes.

The project can take a lot of different directions, is what I'm saying.

I started out by completely forgetting to take a picture of the t-shirts Al sent me, and the pretty beads and handy organizer she packed in. Picture two brown t-shirts in a smaller and larger size.

I cut the smaller t-shirt down, giving it a one shoulder shape.



Then paired it with my sweats.



The larger t-shirt was to be used for embellishing, but I'm just not really a ruffles and flowers kind of girl. I like clean lines and solid colors, most of the time. (In fact, Al asked me a few weeks ago what colors I like to wear the most. I said brown. She asked what do you like to pair with brown? I said, often other browns. Ha ha! I understood why she had asked when I got my two brown shirts. Also, I laughed. She definitely listened!)

So, what to do with the larger t-shirt? While the one shoulder tank was sure comfy with my sweats, I decided it would be fun as a dress! So, I cut the shirt into a skirt.

I'm not going to go over all the steps I did because there are a dillion t-shirt refashion tutorials out there - all done by much better sewers than myself! I have no idea if I even did any of it the "right" way or not. This was definitely an exercise in trial and error - heavy emphasis on the error.

But, once I was done, this was what I had made. (I chopped my head off in the following pictures because I apparently make ridiculous faces while trying to photograph my whole self.)



I thought it would be fun paired with a big belt.



But, I also did want to use some of the pretty beads Al had sent. So, I cut out a few pieces of scrap fabric I had and beaded a little seed center for the flower. Here it is up close:



And pinned to the dress:



And, finally I braved the mirth of my numerous neighbors (Germany is very compact) and got a picture in true light to show you how I'll probably wear the dress most often - with one of my favorite shrugs:

T-Shirt Refashion