Shirt Alteration Roundup

My sewing machine and I have been getting along very well lately, so I thought I'd post some recent projects all in one place.

First of all, a lot of the shirts I've altered in the past I got the instructions for in this book:

Available here, or from your local library!

 From reading this book, I've gotten a lot of great ideas, and have started applying some of them to other projects. I'm not a seamstress by any stretch, but I'm getting decent at altering clothes. I recently purchased a dress that fit perfectly except for the straps, and was able to fix those properly instead of doing the old safety-pin trick. I was able to take in two tank tops that were too big for me this summer super-easily. And last weekend I was able to fix a shirt with gaping armholes so that the whole world doesn't have to see my bra when I wear it. I totally give this book credit for starting me on the sewing path, and giving me the confidence to try these things.

The day is saved! For cheap!

 I found this PPG shirt at Kmart for less than $7. I liked it, but it was a bit snug and I wanted to make it a tank, anyway. So I cut off the sleeves and used the material from them to make side panels. I really liked the way it turned out.

 

Please to ignore filthy bathroom.

I wanted to see if I could make a halter-top out of a t shirt, and I had a Rita's shirt that I'd gotten at a thrift shop for a buck that I thought would be great to practice on. There are a few construction issues that I need to fix, but it's wearable. I want to get a little plastic cherry button to sew right at the gather for a little extra something. I bet it will end up costing more than the shirt, though. 

I just got the vintage necklace and loved how it looked with the shirt.

Lastly, this project is the brainchild of my friend Cathy, who makes literally award-winning costumes and also beautiful jewelry which you can learn about here. She told me how these $60 Princess Leia hoodies were on clearance at Hot Topic for, I think, about $8.

Now, when these came out, everyone agreed that they were adorable and clever, but apparently fewer people actually wanted to wear a hoodie with stuffed cinnamon rolls on it, hence the clearancing at HT.  Cathy's BRILLIANT idea was to detach the hood from the jacket, leaving her with a cute, totally wearable item. Like so.

Pink shoelace here because I didn't have any other color at the time.

I was also able to make the hood part into a little hat, so that the pieces can be worn together or separately.

A sewing machine makes projects like the above go much faster, but they all could have been hand-stitched if necessary. It's easy enough to tweak items that aren't quite what you want them to be. It just takes a know-how, and a  little imagination!

7.28.13 Scott Pilgrim Full Project Update

Ok, so it's been five months since I did one of these. I blame basketball.

Anyway. 

Back in February, I was still working on. Envy. Since then, I've finished her off, added Stacey Pilgrim and Lynette Guycott, a pig and a duck, and started on one of Matthew Patel's Demon Hipster Chicks. I figured once I got her neckline on her tank top done, it would be a good spot to stop for an update. 

7.19.13 Scott Pilgrim WIP

Well.

Over a month between updates. Terribly sorry about that, but once Stacey was finished, it took a while to get anything worth looking at on one of Matthew Patel's Demon Hipster Chicks. 

Now you can see most of her hair and most of her eyes as well, so you can actually tell what you're looking at. This particular DHC is cut off from view at mid-torso, so it shouldn't take very long to finish her.