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How to Sew Creative T-Shirts

T-shirts are made of soft cotton and are inexpensive enough to experiment on without fear of wasting too much money. Turn two T-shirts -- one that fits and one that's too big -- into a skirted creation of your own making. Add some ruffles and a painted motif to really make this a creative endeavor. Look for T-shirts to practice on at thrift stores or garage sales. Craft stores also sell plain colored T-shirts for a reasonable price.

Things You'll Need

Fitted T-shirt
T-shirt 2 or 3 sizes too big
Scissors
Pins
Sewing machine
Spray on fabric paint
Stickers or a stencil

Instructions

- 1
  Measure from your shoulder to the middle of your rib cage. Measure this distance down from the shoulder seam of a T-shirt in your size and cut the bottom portion away.
- 2
  Cut across the underarms of a T-shirt that is two or three sizes too big for you. You'll have a tube of T-shirt material left, which is what you need to work with. Turn this tube and the top portion of the first T-shirt inside out. Fit the first T-shirt inside the tube, so that the cut edges line up. Pin the cut edge of tube around the cut edge of the first T-shirt, gathering the larger tube as you go, making a skirted effect.
- 3
  Sew the gathered skirt to the T-shirt top.
- 4
  Cut several 1-inch-wide strips of fabric from the discarded bottom of the first T-shirt. Each strip should be 1 1/2 times as long as the front width of the shirt. Take a basting stitch through the center length of each strip and gather them so that they are the length of the width of the front of the shirt. To take a basting stitch, move the needle in and out of the fabric in a straight line, taking 1/4 inch stitches.
- 5
  Sew the gathered lengths of T-shirt material across the front of the shirt. Sew with a sewing machine straight stitch through the basting stitch in the center of each strip. These will form rows of ruffles.
- 6
  Attach square or circle stickers, or hold a stencil to a portion of the T-shirt you'd like to further decorate. Spray over the stickers or inside the stencil with spray-on fabric paint. Allow the paint to dry completely, then remove the stickers or stencil. Try this technique to put a painted pattern around the waist of the T-shirt or to stencil a design on the skirt.

Sewing