Saturday, March 25, 2017

5 Shirt Makeovers! Don't Throw Away Your Old Tees and Tops!

Here are a few ideas for changing the look of old shirts! Each of these tops was headed for Goodwill originally, and with a few easy techniques I  dramatically changed the look of each shirt!



Grey Lace Top with Rhinestone Button Detail


This top was originally off-white and did not have the button detail along the top. I was going to donate it because it became stained with blue dye from a pair of jeans in the wash.  Here is what I did to transform the shirt:

I bought black Rit Dye and following the directions on the package for a cotton-blend shirt, made a batch of dye and submerged the entire shirt into the dye. You should check on the color periodically until you reach the color that you want. Obviously, the longer you leave it in the dye, the darker the color will be. For this shirt I left it in the dye for about 50 minutes because I wanted it pretty dark. You will want to rinse the item (I used my kitchen sink) until the water runs clear and then run it through the wash (by itself.)  I allowed it to air dry.  Then, I picked up some buttons from Joanne Fabrics and added them along the neckline. That's it and now it's one of my favorite tops. The only precaution I will give is to wash any items that you dye with Rit separately for a while. Also, this top should probably be hand-washed because of the buttons.

Click here to shop Amazon for Rit Dye!


Click here to shop Amazon for Rhinestone Buttons!









Pink Dip- Dyed Cold Shoulder Top



This top was originally white, and was also headed for Goodwill because it had been washed with something red accidentally. I purchased pink Rit dye and followed the instructions on the box for a cotton-polyester blend shirt. I submerged the entire shirt into the dye and left it for about 20 minutes, rinsed in my kitchen sink and ran it through the washing machine by itself. Hang dry.



Click here to shop Amazon for pink Rit Dye!






Multi-Color Tie Dye with Fabric Heart Applique






This shirt used to be a plain white, long-sleeved tee and it was just dingy looking. I prepared a batch of pink, purple and yellow Rit dye following the instructions for 100% cotton. I placed the shirt flat on a baking sheet, and using a ladle, poured one ladle-full at a time onto different areas of the shirt, alternating colors. There really is no wrong way to do this part by the way. The colors blend together beautifully. I would just recommend that you choose colors that look nice together separately and when they blend. You want to make sure that the shirt is totally saturated with color all over, and then let it sit for about 20 minutes. Then rinse until the water runs clear, and run through the wash by itself and hang dry. The second part to this was adding the heart in the center. I drew the heart out onto a piece of cardboard and then traced it onto grey fabric and cut. Using the zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine, I went along the edges of the heart. That's it!



Feminine Ruffle Neckline




I used a new white tee from Old Navy for this top. I cut a strip of the fabric that I wanted to use for the ruffle (about 3.5 inches wide). Make sure that it is long enough for the neckline by pinning it, and allow for an extra 1/2 inch at the top seam on each side that you can turn it under. Using the zig-zag stitch, I went along both edges of the strip of fabric. Then, I started a straight stitch down the center and folded the fabric randomly to create a ruffle. Then, I folded it in half length-wise and sewed it along the collar with a straight stitch and turned the edges under at the shoulder seams on each side. The only thing I will mention is that this fabric didn't have a wrong side to it, so if your fabric does have a wrong side (which most do), you will want to take that into consideration when you fold the fabric before sewing it onto the shirt. You could make the ruffle a single layer in that case, and would just need to make the width of the fabric strip smaller, do the gathering along one side and turn that edge under before sewing to the shirt.



Gold Ric-Rac Neckline




For this top I simply sewed some gold ric-rac along the neckline. I  started it at the shoulder seam on one side, sewing along the neckline all the way to the other side. I started with the inside first, and cut the ric-rac at the "v" so that it was two separate pieces.  By doing this, it keeps the fabric from pulling and buckling there.  You will want to try to match the ric-rac up carefully at the "v" so that it appears to be one continuous piece. I did also add a piece of interfacing on the inside of the shirt to keep the neckline extra smooth. This is a fun and easy detail to add, and there are many combinations of colors that would look great. Although I didn't do it with this shirt, you could do the same thing on the cuffs or along the bottom hem.

Click here to shop Amazon for Gold Ric-Rac!

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