Upcycled T-shirt Collar

Like my new shirt?

It's upcycled.

It started off as a plain white t-shirt and some unwanted material from my Mum's culottes.

In fact the t-shirt was once my Mum's as well. 

The strips of fabric were meant to be tied around the waist of the culottes, and were already the right size to be a collar so I just had to sew it round the neckline of my shirt.

To make the fabric go nicely around my shoulders I had it go down the back instead of straight across the neck.

I cut a new neckline for the back of the shirt and sewed the fabric on in a 'v' shape.

So now it looks just as interesting from the back as from the front.

I really like how this simple, and completely free, addition has made the shirt look much more fancy.

It looks great with this new skirt I bought on sale at New Look.

They sell this thing as a school skirt! I would not have got away with that in my day. It's tight y'all!

But that might be because I bought it size age 10-11...

T-shirt to dress

I think I'm getting better at this sewing business.

Like my new dress?

When I was sorting out my room I found this t-shirt that I'd intended to use as a pyjama top but I never wore it.

Years ago I'd used it to try out printable transfer paper. Not so cool now.

I found a couple of tutorials about how to make a t-shirt into a dress, like this one and this one, and modified them a bit too make them less little-girly.

I even got adventurous and chose to add a peter pan collar.

I made the pattern myself so it's a bit wibbly, but for a first attempt it's not too bad at all.

I added a waist band to give the dress more shape which is attached at the front but not at the back so I'm able to tie/un-tie it.

I also made an under layer for the skirt as the brown fabric is a bit thin. 

I like it.

I like it a lot.