Notes from Sew School: T-shirt tunic restyle

Hello everyone, this is part two of the as-seen-on-TV gameday shirt segment. Have you shopped for Texans t-shirts lately? Well, let me save you some trouble - they probably don't have your size, but that is fine with you because you are a problem solving fashionista. Today's tutorial shows you how to turn a too big t-shirt into a cute tunic or dress.

You will need

an oversized tshirt
3/8 inch elastic
chalk

Step 1

Put on the shirt and mark where you want your waist. You can use chalk or a pin.

Step 2

Lay shirt flat and mark a straight line around the whole tshirt.

Step 3

Mark the center and side points.

Step 4

Take the elastic and put it snuggly around where you want your waist to be. (Don't pull it tight, just to where you think it will stay put on its own.) Cut to that length. Mark the middle, then mark half way between the middle and each end.

Step 5

Match up lines. Pin the end of the elastic to one side of the tshirt, pin the next line to the center line of the shirt and so on. See that waist forming?

Step 6

Sewing time! This is a fun step. You have to stretch the elastic when you sew it. If you don't, it won't be elastic anymore! It really helps to stop with your needle down for this step. If you don't have a fancy button that does this, just turn by hand. Put your needle down into the elastic and stitch a few times. Now, hold the fabric by the marks/pins you placed in step 5. Stretch the elastic until it lays flat on the tshirt. You have to pull on the elastic to make the marks meet without folding the shirt fabric.

Look at that tunic!

Step 7

Now you are going to add elastic to the sleeves to give them a little style. The shorter the elastic, the more gathered your sleeve will be. I cut mine about 2 inches shorter than the sleeve, but I could have gone shorter. The angle of this makes it a little tricky to sew. Make sure you mark the top of your sleeve. This will help you keep your elastic straight.

Step 8

And there you have it! My model doesn't have arms, so you can really see the sleeve detail. This tunic also looks good if you alter the sleeves. I didn't to this here, but Nicole at Diary of a Mad Crafter did, and it looks great.