My son found an angry bird shirt in the old shirt pile and wanted it remade to fit him.  That’s easy enough.  I took the sides in and shortened the hem up.  I cut binding from the shirt to hem the armholes.  He loves it!

My daughter pointed out to me that it looks like he has no arms. As my son is less than thrilled with modeling for me, this will have to do.

Then I had quite a bit of t-shirt leftover.  What to do?  Add some decoration to a pair of shorts made from another t-shirt!

I had made him a pair of black shorts and carefully positioned the logo at the hemline.  I cut two strips of the angry bird t-shirt scraps 3″-4″ wide and the length of the shorts.  I sewed them on using my double needle (before hemming or doing the waistband).

I did the waistband differently than I normally do.  Normally I just put the elastic through a casing.  This time I sewed the elastic to the waistband.  First I sewed the ends of the elastic together.  Then I marked fourths on the elastic.

Then I pinned it to the shorts matching up the pins and the seams.  I folded 1/4″ over the elastic and sewed it down with a zig zag.  Stretch gently as you sew.

Now the elastic can’t go anywhere – no twisting, no weird bunching.

 Fold the waistband down and pin it.

Carefully stretch and sew down the elastic.

For this pair I only sewed one time.  They’re perfect for gym shorts.

If you want to, you can sew around the waistband a second time 1/4″ from the top.

What else could you make from a t-shirt that is ready for upcycling?

Do your kids shorts look like this?

Or maybe you’ve tried to fix them?

Either way, it’s time for some new shorts!  I looked at some in the store, but even on clearance, they’re $3 and I was sure I could make them cheaper.  My husband had recently culled his t-shirts and I had a pile of t-shirts that weren’t quite bad enough to be turned into rags and while I could donate them, I was sure that I could do something with them.

I dug out a shorts pattern and cut out a pair.  I had to cut them a little big since the pattern only goes to a size 4.

I cut an old pair of shorts apart to use as a pattern for my nine-year-old.  Don’t forget to add a little extra for the seam allowance and add at least 1.5 inches to the top for the waistband.

 If you forget to add extra for the waistband *ahem*, you can always cut a strip or two 3 inches by the size of the waistband you need and sew it on.

The waistband attached.

The shorts ended up fitting my 11-year-old better.

You could also use a coordinating material for the waistband to make it a little more interesting.

Adding cuffs to the shorts for a little added interest or to make them longer?
Either way, it works.

Don’t throw away those too small or unloved t-shirts.  They can easily be recycled into something useful!  What do you do with unwanted t-shirts?