I love graphic tees but the problem is they aren’t always very feminine. So I wanted to customize a Valentine’s Day tee just for me. It’s probably one of my favorite things to do when I’m in the mood for a quick project. Plus, there is very little waste since I’m usually able to use almost every inch of fabric!

I had this older size Large t-shirt. It was soft and drapey and still had lots of life left in it. Sometimes I would wear it to bed or knot it, roll the sleeves and throw on a pencil skirt or leggings for a daytime look. It wasn’t my favorite tee but I knew it could be with a little bit of imagination.

First thing I did was open the shirt at the side seams and remove the sleeves. I used scissors but you may need to use a seam ripper. It depends on the shirt size and what you are Refashioning it in to. I also left the shoulder seams and neckband in tack. I wasn’t sure if could somehow utilize the shoulder seams but I knew I could definitely reuse the neckband though.

Next, I  got my favorite t-shirt pattern and traced it to be a full pattern. I didn’t want to cut the shirt on the fold because I wanted the graphic to sit in the right spot. Tracing the pattern out on tissue paper really helped me do that. Then I laid my pattern on the t-shirt to see what adjustments I needed to make. I knew right away I was going to have to raise the neckline from scoop neck to a crew neck.

I drew a little line right under the neckband for the new crew neckline and cut everything else out according to the patterns. I was careful not to cut the neckband though because I still wanted to use it.

When I cut out my t-shirt pieces, I had removed 2 inches from the bottom portions of the shirt and the sleeves. These just happened to be the hemmed parts. So I sewed one short piece to each long piece. I then had two long, two inch strips I could gather to turn in to sleeve ruffles. As soon as I attached the ruffles to the sleeves, I knew I was going to love this Refashion!

I sewed it all together and adjusted the neckband to fit. Then I  threw it on with a red pencil skirt and had a fun little Valentine’s Day outfit. It was such a fast make that I had time to make a shirt for MY Valentine. I said he could pick any fabric in my stash so of course he chose this red floral jersey knit. I wasn’t even mad about it.

So I guess you could say I gave him flowers for Valentine’s Day. He loves flowers and he loves wearing the things I make him. We are all set now for our Valentine’s Day at home.

Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Sewing!

Koe