upcycling – Page 2

How To Sew: Shortening 3/4 Sleeves

How to sew shorten sleeves

I’m working on a series of posts about adjusting clothing to fit. To see all of them click here – How to Sew.

I’ve had this shirt for several years now. I really like it, but I’ve only worn it a handful of times. Why? It has 3/4 length sleeves with a button cuff. I’m not sure who thought that would be comfortable, but it isn’t! The sleeve can’t slide up and down my arm. No matter how I move my arm, the sleeve stays right there – half way between my elbow and my wrist. It means the rest of the shirt pulls up whenever I reach. I’m not into showing off my midriff and it’s just plain uncomfortable. So, it mostly sits in my closet. Why have I kept it? Well, I do like the style & the print. It’s also nice material with 3% spandex so it has a little give to it.

Button Up Shirt with 3/4 Length Sleeves

The other day, I wanted to wear it, but as soon as I put it on, I remembered why I don’t.

The sleeve can’t slide past my elbow. Very annoying!

Plus, now that I live in Florida, I don’t have much need for anything beyond short sleeves. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it sooner – I’ve shortened a lot of hubby’s dress shirt sleeves. It’s so easy!

Cut the sleeve off at the desired length plus 1/2″ for the hem. Cut Sleeve Off

Using the cut-off as a pattern, cut the other sleeve to match. Cut Other Sleeve to Match

It looks better already! Sleeves Shortened

All they need is a quick hem.

Turn under 1/4″ on the sleeve edge.

Turn under another 1/4″ and sew in place.

Finished Sleeve

My new short sleeved shirt. (and yes, I purposely told my daughter to not get my face).

Don’t forget to take the buttons off the cuffs before you toss them. You can never have too many extra buttons!

How To Sew: Adding A Skirt to a Shirt

I’m working on a series of posts about adjusting clothing to fit. To see all of them click here – How to Sew.

My daughter has this long shirt/short skirt that she really likes. She normally wears it with leggings, but recently we’ve noticed that the skirt doesn’t quite cover enough and the tulle is pulling away from the seam. Since she really likes it, I’m going to lengthen the skirt a bit.

The first step is to remove the skirt from the shirt. You can either cut them apart by cutting very close to the seam or use a seam ripper to rip out the seam.

Then, because the tulle was ripping out of the seam, I serged it back to the underskirt.

My daughter picked out this chevron print to be the skirt. I cut a piece the same width as the current skirt and twice as long.

Then I sewed the ends together and hemmed the bottom (I used a rolled hem on my serger, but you can also fold the edge under 1/4″ and then turn it under 1/4″ again and stitch close to the fold).

Then, line up the top edges of the existing skirt and the new skirt and baste them together. Don’t backstitch – you’ll be gathering this to make the skirt fit the shirt.

Pull the stitches up so that it fits the bottom of the t-shirt.

Pin the skirt to the shirt making sure you catch all the layers and make sure all the layers are flat…nothing is more frustrating than having part of the skirt sewn into the seam! Then sew the seam. If needed, pull out the basting stitches. I only pull them out if they show. 😉

Then convince your daughter to try it on and admire your work.

Now it’s long enough that she could wear it without leggings!

Making Pants Into Capris

I recently bought two pairs of pants at Goodwill. I needed some “new” work pants. I tried them on and was sure one pair would work. The other pair I wasn’t sure about – they seemed just a tad too short – like maybe an inch or so. After I got them home and washed them, I tried them on again. They just aren’t quite long enough for my taste. So, since there’s nothing wrong with them, I’m going to turn them into capris.

I tried them on and marked how long I want them to be.

Then, cut them remembering to leave an inch for the hem. I used the first leg as a pattern to mark where to cut the second one.

I wanted to have a small slit on the side, so I opened up the outside seam about 3″ on each side. If you don’t want a slit, skip to the last step to hem your capris.

Sew around the edge of the slit. If the seams are serged, you may need to undo some of the serging so that the seam will lay flat at the top of the slit.

Turn under 1/4″ on the hem and press. Then turn under another 3/4″ and press. Stitich close to fold. If you want, stitch again 1/8″ from first seam or use you twin needle.

Enjoy your “new” capris!

Recycling A Tank Top

My husband has several shirts that he doesn’t wear anymore. They were in really good shape and I hated to just send them off to the thrift store. I decided to try and remake one of them into a tank top for my boys. It turned out to be very easy! All you need is a shirt to use as a pattern.

Lay the small tank top over the larger one. Line up theÂ necklines of the two shirts. Trim the bottom off remembering to leave enough extra for the hem.

Trim the sides the same way. I used the piece from the first side as a pattern to cut the second so that I cut the same amount off both sides.

Trim the shoulders the same way.

Sew up the side seams and shoulders. If the back shoulders are wider, just stretch the front a little to make them line up. The hem can be sewed or serged depending on your preference.

Voila! A new tank top. Doesn’t my model look thrilled?