Easy Lace Ruffle T-shirt Refashion - Tutorial

Are you ready for a very cheap, simple and fast refashion?

All you need are the following supplies:

* A plain t-shirt with a rounded neckline

* Ruffled lace trim in either a matching or contrasting color

(See pic below, I found mine at Hobby Lobby.)

* Tread, same color as trim

You will need the following tools:

* Sewing machine

*Scissors

*Pins

(My excuses for the bad pictures below, 

I tend to do most of my crafting at night,

which doesn't really help...)

Begin by cutting a piece of trim slightly longer than the neckline.

Pin it down, folding the ends by the shoulder under.

Cut a second piece of trim, about half the size of the first one.

Pin it down underneath the first row, making sure there is an overlap.

Cut the third piece slightly smaller than the second one, 

and attached it like described before.

Cut and attach your fourth piece.

Now, it's time to sew the pieces in place.

Sew the bottom ruffle in place, while you lift the other ruffles.

Do the same thing for the next two ruffles.

When you get to the last ruffle, you start by sewing the side of the trim to the shirt. You had pinned it down with the edge folded under, so sew through both layers.

(Matching up with the seam on the shoulder.) Then, just follow the neckline.

Finish up by attaching the other end of the trim to the other shoulder like described in the previous step.

Enjoy your new shirt!

Shared at Today's Creative Blog, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Craft-o-maniac, Sugar Bee Crafts, Brassy Apple, Tatertots and Jello and Tea Rose Home.

Ruffle Shoe Tutorial: a Refashion

I really like shoes with something extra, like ruffles or flowers, but usually not the price tag on them...

In my closet I had these boring shoes, still in perfectly good shape, just plain though.

So I thought of a way I could change them. 

And LOVED how they turned out!

So here is another refashion tutorial...

It took me less than a half hour to make these, and hardly any supplies!

Gather your supplies:

* Shoes 

* 7/8" Wide Grosgrain ribbon (color that matches your shoes)

* Matching thread

*E-6000 glue

Begin by measuring your ribbon. I took ribbon about twice as long as the edge I wanted to put the ruffle on. You could use a little less, but don't use too little, you can always trim it if it's too long.

Stitch one edge of the ribbon with a straight stitch, at the longest length your sewing machine will allow. (For mine that is 4.)

Gather the ribbon by pulling one of the threads.

Put it on the shoe to see how it looks, and adjust if needed.

Trim the excessive ends. Make sure the ribbon can still fold to the inside of your shoe like shown in the picture below. Make sure the part on the inside of the shoe isn't ruffled.

Then, with stitch length 1, sew the edge of the ribbon once again, to make sure the ruffle will stay put! 

Now, grab the sports section of the paper, your glue, and if the weather allows it, go outside!

(Otherwise make sure you're working in a well ventilated area!)

Sorry for this blurry picture, but at this point I was holding the glue and camera, and wanting to work as quickly as possible, so didn't take too many pictures....

Put some glue on the center of the shoe as pictured.

Wait a little, following the directions on the glue.

Put the center of the ribbon in place, make sure it is a little higher up than the edge of the shoe, so that the edge won't show anymore.

Work your way around the shoe, finishing of the last part like shown in the picture below, and fold to the inside.

Let them dry and enjoy!

You could also add ribbon flowers, or an extra layer of ruffles, beads, etc.

I liked it just like this, and was worried to mess it up by overdoing it, so I kept them like this.

Would also be fun for plain flats...

Oh, and for people who always manage to glue the lid of the glue stuck to the tube: (Of cooooooooooourse not me, not at all.) I learned by reading the directions in small print (who does that anyway?) that it helps to put a little petroleum jelly on the inside of the lid. Tried it last time and it works like a charm :)

I linked up to Brassy Apple, I heart organizing, CraftOManiac Monday, Blue Cricket Design, Tea Rose Home and Sugarbee Crafts

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Flower T-shirt Tutorial - a Refashion

I made this flower t-shirt using a plain black t-shirt and a black and a white top that I was going to get rid off anyway. It was such a quick and easy project, and I am really pleased with the results. I took some pictures while I was making it, and decided to share..

Supplies needed:

A basic t-shirt (I used black)

Knit fabric in 2 colors (I used 2 old tops, black & white)

Lace

Matching thread

Begin by cutting flowers in 3 sizes using the knit fabric and the lace. I used my Bigshot, but you could also freehand them. Since you will layer them, and put lace on top of the lighter color, their shape won't matter as much. Also, once the t-shirt is washed the edges will curl up slightly, therefore the shape is not too important.

Then, lay out the flowers on your shirt. I used 2 of the big knit flowers, and one each of the smaller ones. Then I made sure that a piece of lace was on top of the white knit, so that the lace was more visible. 

Once you have found an arrangement that you like, pin the flowers down, and start sewing. 

This was really pretty easy. I used a straight stitch, starting in the center of the flower, and went back and forth in a straight line on each petal twice. In order to move on to the next petal, just make sure the needle is down, lift the presser foot, turn the fabric so that you're good to go for the next petal, put the presser foot back down, and repeat.

 Here are some close ups to show the flowers.

And that's all!

Hope you enjoy this mini tutorial, let me know if you have any questions!

I linked up to Brassy Apple, Blue Cricket Design, Tatertots and jello , Under the table and dreaming, CraftOManiac Monday, Young and Crafty, Sumo's Sweet Stuff and Sugar Bee Crafts. 

Flower t-shirt refashion

I made this t-shirt, using 2 t-shirts that I bought for less than $1 at Target.

I didn't take pictures of the process, but it's pretty simple, so I will give a description of the steps I took.

I kept one t-shirt in its original shape, and cut flower shapes out of the other one, using my BigShot. But you could do this easily cutting freehand flowers, since the shape of the flowers doesn't matter too much. I also cut flowers out of burgundy tulle.

I placed different sized flowers on top of one another, some of them layered with the tulle in between.

Then, I used my sewing machine to attach them to the t-shirt.
I am not so good at sewing fine pattern, so I just went back and forth, using a straight stitch. (See picture below.)

I really love the end result, it went from a simple, basic t-shirt to something special!

I linked up to:

Extending the life of clothes - making tops longer

I think most moms recognize how fast kids outgrow their cute clothes. I found a way of making tops last longer, using some old t-shirts from myself that were on my 'donation' pile. It's really fast and easy, I added this extra layer to these 2 pajama tops in about 15 minutes! So why not give this a try?

This would also work for boys' clothes, with one little adjusment. I will give a step-by-step tutorial, I didn't take pictures of the separate steps, but it's so simple that you don't really need the pictures to go with this.

1. Take the top that got too short, and find a t-shirt in a matching or contrasting color. For most clothes, even a simple white t-shirt would create a cute, layered look.

2. Cut off the bottom part of the t-shirt, about 1 inch longer than you want the bottom layer to finally be.

3. Flip the part you just cut off inside out. Measure how wide your kid's top is. Zigzag the side of the part you cut off (inside out) so that it has the same width.

4. Then, trim off the excess fabric. Next, stitch on the inside of your zigzag with a straight stitch.

5. Now there are 2 different ways to proceed, depending if you want a ruffly bottom (like pictured) or just a simple, straight bottom.

For the ruffly bottom: Zigzag the raw edge of the "tube" you created with a small zigzag stitch. It will end up curly looking like the pictures above. Then, pin the tube with the finished edge underneath the bottom of the shirt, and attach with a straight stitch. (I just followed the seams that were already there to make it look neater. So you might want to do that twice if there where 2 originally.)

For a straight bottom: pin the raw edge of the "tube" you created underneath the shirt. Attach with a straight stitch. (I just followed the seams that were already there to make it look neater. So you might want to do that twice if there were 2 originally.)

And that's it!

This would be even quicker if you would use a shirt that is of the same width, so basically combine 2 outgrown shirts. That way steps 3 and 4 could be skipped.

I linked this up to:

Refashion: Turn long-sleeved turtle neck into ruffled t-shirt and headband

I found some cheap turtle necks this weekend at a sale, and decided to buy them and change them into t-shirts for this summer. This is a great time to buy cheap winter clothes and change them, or use winter clothes that you already have on hand before your child outgrows them!

I started by cutting off the sleeves and the turtle neck itself. To make sure you cut both sleeves evenly, cut off one sleeve, turn it over and put it on the other long sleeve and use that as a guide to cut the other sleeve.

Next, you are going to cut the new neckline. I used a small plate and traced it. Be careful not to cut it too low, since the weight of the ruffles that you are going to attach will pull it down a little further.

Next, zigzag the edges of the new sleeves, I used stitch length 1. The sleeves will end up looking 'curly' like they are in the picture.

Then, use one of the sleeves you cut off, and cut it into strips. My strips were just a little narrower than an inch. You will probably need 3 or 4 strips.

Next, using a straight stitch, the longest one you have, stitch straight down the middle of the strips. Gather the strips, so that a ruffle is formed. Pin the ruffled strips onto the shirt, so that they overlap one another.

Sew the ruffle onto the t-shirt with a straight stitch. (I used length 2)

And the shirt is done!

Next, we're going to make this cute headband using the neck of the shirt... (Can't let anything go to waste, can we?!)

In order to make the flower, find a strip of fabric, about 3 inches wide and 16 inches long. Fold it and sew with the longest straight stitch on your machine. Then, pull the strings at the ends to gather the fabric, as shown in the picture below.

Roll up till your flower has a shape you like, tucking in the ruffled ends.

Then, sew by hand to create the flower.

Next, sew the 2 edges of the turtle neck together, and turn that to the inside of the headband. Attach the flower to the headband (you can sew it or pin it so that you can change it later) and you're done.