Pages

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

remove the stain restyling

I never got to pre-spotting this chocolate stained shirt, and now my lazyness has turned into a happy fault : ) And lesson learned: don't eat chocolate laying in bed, in the dark : P unless you want stains and a husband laughing at you (and not for the mess on the shirt but your face). I don't actually mind the latter though : D
not horrible, but not unnoticable ->

The Plan: cut out the stain and shorten sleeves to create a 3/4 sleeve V-neck out of a long sleeve crew.

the V-neck.

1st cut: your desired neck line w/a little extra for seam (unless you want a rolled/raw edge : ) the loveliness of knit!) I suggest using a v-neck you already own and like and inserting it inside the shirt and marking where you want to cut ( i used a regular pencil because it isnt white).
2nd cut: separate from the shirt with another cut the desired width of your neckline (with extra for seam).
3rd cut: from the front only of the shirt trim about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch to achieve a gather when you sew it all back together.



I then sewed the back 'collar' to the shirt because the fabric likes to roll and to prevent a pin mess : )
I continued to pin the shirt's front neckline, inside out, until about 2 inches from the center. There I hand sewed a simple stitch to gather there, and pinned in place (i should've taken more care to do mine but it turned out okay)...... Then it was sewn shoulder to shoulder : P and the hand stitch was removed after.


then a seam was sewn around the edge, but this is optional... a rolled edge is completely acceptable with t-shirt fabric, it wont fray : )
the sleeves.
I wanted a cuffed sleeve rather than a cut off and stitched seam, or rolled cuff. to get the length i wantde i put the shirt on and folded one sleeve up to the desired length. when i took off the shirt i compared it to the other side and added about 2 inches; I used the existing sleeve end to get a straight new edge to cut . Then, the excess 2 inches was folded over (shirt is inside out) then, folded inward and pinned (fan effect).

A zig-zag/triangle stitch was used on the edge where pinned in the picture on the right shown above.
below left - unfolded after sewing
below right - turned right side out


And there you have it!!!! A much more attractive and feminine top! I don't think you need a stain to want to make a pretty top out of an otherwise boring long-sleeved tee, but it served as great inspiration for this project : )
enjoy!

btw...... i still eat chocolate in bed : )