How to Make Boring T-Shirts Awesome

We all have some t-shirts that we like which could use updating or some kind of improvement to their design. Perhaps you have one with a stain on it that won’t come out. There are several ways to modify your T-shirt that can result in a new look and be fun to make as well.

To begin, find several T-shirts and lay them out.  I usually start in the bedroom and put them all on the bed for a quick look. Are some of them too long? Do some of them have designs that are faded or wearing off? Perhaps some of them have hems that are worn or other issues with their look that require a makeover.

Now that you have your inventory, let’s begin with gathering supplies. You will need a good sharp pair of scissors and a flat surface to work on.  I like to use my grid cutting board surface that I got at my local crafts store.  Next, look around your house for trinkets, charms, hair beads, scraps of fabric and felt (you can raid your closet for things you never wear that have something you like in or on them and cannibalize them).  Beaded work from another project is good and earrings that have lost their mate, etc., etc., you get the idea. If you have a piece of chalk for marking on your fabric that is probably a good idea to use in order to help reduce mistakes.  If you have a sewing machine, you may wish to set it up also. If you don’t have one, that’s okay too. Fabric paints are a great thing to get into for this project also if you have any. If you want to make the investment, there are plenty to be found at your local craft store. Sharpie or other kinds of indelible markers are great to use in many colors as well. Get some scrap paper to use for sketching and stencil pattern creation.  A ruler is a good idea to get as well. Straight pins for adhering things to your shirt before sewing, as well as a needle and some thread should be enough to get you started.

Pick your first shirt from the pile and do a bit of sketching to get an idea of where you want to go with this shirt. Let’s assume you have found a shirt that has two stains on it and a frayed neckline to begin. Lay the shirt down flat on your cutting board (a piece of cardboard works nicely if you don’t have a grid board) and match the seams to the sides as though you were going to fold it and put it away. For this example we are going to begin by creating a fringe effect around the bottom and along the sleeves. Take your scissors and snip through both layers of fabric four inches long and ¼ inch apart all along the hemline and up eighty percent of the length of the sleeves. Don’t try to make it perfect, just go for it any way you like.

For the neckline you have your choice of a deep V-neck or a scoop neck (cut wider if you want off the shoulder and narrower if you want your shoulders covered), or you can just make a vertical snip to open the neckline as you see fit. Take a look at some other shirts you have that you like the necklines on and use these as your guide. Now let’s take a look at those stains. Would your T-Shirt look good with a couple of custom patches on it? Grab a few pieces of felt and cut some zany shapes out of it. I like those starburst shapes a lot (the ones that look like cartoon sayings) and they are easy to cut out. If you want to sew these patches on over those stains you can use any of these techniques:

·         Use a zigzag stitch with your sewing machine in a contrasting thread color and sew it all around after you have pinned the cut-out onto your shirt.

·         Find a large needle and some black embroidery thread and do a blanket stitch around the cut-out after pinning it onto your shirt

·         If you have some stitch witchery iron-on adhesive, you may use your iron and this product to put your patch on.

Now take a look at what you have done. Does it need more pizzazz? Go nuts! Put hair beads along every third strand of the hemline and tie a knot below each bead to make it stay on. Sew some whimsical buttons or charms over your patch appliqué. Now, depending on which colors you have in markers and paints, you can put the finishing touches on your makeover for your shirt. I like to look up neat quotes on the internet and print them out in a calligraphy font and draw the words using the printout for a reference. If you like, you can also create iron-on transfers out of some of these by using your ink jet printer and some specialty paper from your crafts store. I made a cute neck-tie T-shirt by tying a knot in an old tie and sewing it all around the neck and down the front. You can do this with a piece of felt or contrasting fabric too. Just make sure your head can still fit through when you are finished. Another fun thing you can do is sew a zipper on a strange location like up the side of the shirt. The possibilities are endless. Have fun with this project, I know I did.