I’m not sure if “downsize” is the most appropriate term for
this recent project. But hey, humor
me for now and let’s use “downsize” for this post, at least. Haha!
This recent downsizing project was a result of reading about
tons of DIY tutorials on T-shirt projects
from Pinterest ( I heart Pinterest!) and the need to re-size my
daughter’s T-shirt ASAP without
cutting it to pieces and mangling it forever (as was advised by my dear hubby).
Not exactly my hubby’s words but the gist of what he
said when I asked him if I can make the shirt smaller was – downsize but do not
deform beyond recognition.
It was from grandpa so we want grandpa to recognize it when it’s worn!
The tag on the shirt says size 6-8 so this means it is meant
for 6 to 8 year olds, right? My
daughter is probably two shirt-sizes smaller so that was my downsizing goal!
So again, with the sewing skillz I have to thank my Home
Economics teachers for, I took to this sewing challenge. Pros, I know this is quite amateur but it’s the best I can do with my bare hands and beginner skillz!
What I used:
Needle, thread, scissors (for cutting the thread), about 90
minutes.
First, I got one of my daughter’s shirts and put it against
this yellow shirt to see how much smaller the shirt had to be.
After reversing the shirt, I laid it out flat on a surface
and started sewing about half an inch from the sides using a backstitch. I figured this would remove an inch
from both sides right away (half inch from the front plus half inch from the
back equals one inch less on each side).
I folded the sleeves inward by an inch and continued the side stitching.
I secured the opposite side of the folded sleeves with a
knot and this is what it looked like.
To work on the shoulders, I tried to do my wabi-sabi way of
ruching. I folded the shoulder
area about 2 cms apart and just knotted each fold, crossing my fingers that it
would come out looking ruched when it’s turned inside-out.
I don’t think it turned out bad at all and I was happy because at least I achieved decreasing the shoulder area by about an inch on both sides with wabi-sabi ruching!
After, I asked my daughter to try it on and hurray; she
didn’t look swallowed by the shirt anymore! Here’s the finished product!
Hope this makes you brave enough to
downsize shirts in the future! I am sure you'll do a better job! ; )
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing this! I want to try it out. The ruching on the shoulders is brilliant... decreases the size and gives it a girly touch at the same time. It looks tricky to pull off though.
Thanks for the note, MemphisMom! The ruching isn't that difficult to pull off compared to the real-deal ruching in videos and tutorials I've seen online! Hahaha! Those are waaaay beyond me and seem like they can only be done with a sewing machine...Would be nice to see the finished product when you do decide to try this project out! Send me a photo! = )
Quick an easy. What I like about it is that you can still remove stitch and have original size of t-shirt used later on. I have prepared downsizing tutorial for shirt too but this one would permanently downsize it. Please check it out:
https://theonewithart.com/downsize-shirt/
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