T-Shirt Remodel

First off, I want to start off to say that I am in no way endorsing the band pictured on the shirt. It is not my favorite band. I happened to get the shirt for free. I decided this would be a good shirt to potentially ruin, in my attempt to try a new project.

When I was growing up, I would occasionally get my hands on a cool band t-shirt. The problem was always finding cute fitted shirts that had the same cool graphics. I recently signed up for a Burda Style account and came across a technique for refitting large shirts. I ended up sacrificing a faded Old Navy t-shirt that still fit pretty well, and using it as a template. I patiently ripped out the all the seams, only leaving the collar intact. 

More details here.

http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/how-to-make-a-t-shirt-smaller#comment-form

Before

I started out with a X-Large men's shirt, that happens to have this logo on it.

This is the first project that involved sewing in sleeves. Despite the strange look on my face, I am pretty happy with the way this came out.

Baby Blanket in an Hour



Layout of satin and fleece for baby blanket






I rolled and pinned the satin, prior to sewing.

Zigzag stitched the edges

 My husband's boss' wife just had baby number two. I was about to send a generic Hallmark card when I remembered that I can now sew a gift. I dont' know about anyone else but when I give a gift to someone that sews, I have that anxiety that goes with believing that my gift is going to be picked apart and criticized. (It's the thought that counts, right?)

Regardless, this is the first thing I've made that I am ready to give away. It is being given to a non-sewer.

It didn't take long to find ideas for making an easy baby blanket. One of the best things about learning how to sew in the age of blogging is that there is never a shortage of ideas for projects.




I resisted the urge to try to iron the satin flat. I have a feeling my smoke detector would have been triggered by even a low setting on the iron.



I used a transparent foot to sew a two layers of zigzag stitching around the satin border. The act of sewing created a nice crease.









Here's where the lessons learned portion of this blog comes in. As you may be able to see on the back of the blanket, there is a slight bunching. I only realized it when I was sewing the last of the the 4 sides. In hindsight, I should have played a bit more with my tension and changed the needle to a smaller size. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the way this came out.

Final version of fleece and satin baby blanket from front