There's an unspoken rule among those born in West Virginia: Never throw away a West Virginia T-Shirt! With that rule in mind, I decided to "Upcycle" my t-shirt into a nightshirt for my granddaughter, Mia.
Materials:
Adult T-Shirt
Needle and Thread
Glitter Puffy Paint
3/8 inch grosgrain ribbon
pencils w/eraser
Q-tips
Directions:
On the shoulders, measure from the neckline out and place pins 2 inches apart down the sleeves in line with the shoulder lines.
I prefer round-headed pins for most sewing projects. |
Make 4 (or more) pleats by folding the sleeve fabric under at each pin, creating pleats that are approximately 5/8 inches apart. Re-pin at each pleat. Carefully sew over the pleats twice and back-stitch on each pleat for a secure seam.
We could have been finished at this point, but...
When I asked Mia if she liked her new nightshirt, she said, "Yes, it looks good! But can we add some glitter and sparkles?" After a shopping trip to for paint and ribbon, we set to work adding the "Bling" with Gold Glitter Fabric paint and Sky Blue Glitter Puffy Paint. I used a plastic table cloth to protect the table, and placed a kitchen trash bag inside the t-shirt to keep the paint from bleeding through. Mia wore an old "upcycled" T-shirt of mine to protect her clothing.
Mia loves my shirt! |
After I shook the paint, I squeezed some on a small foam plate. We used the eraser end of pencils to dip into the paint and painted "dots".
Mia says her swirls look like planets! |
Mia loves to add sparkles! |
I then tied and hand-sewed on the 3 gold bows - one on each sleeve and one in the center front - being very careful to sew through the center of the bows securely so they will not come untied (See top photo).
A large Smurfette T-Shirt was upcyled into a nightshirt in a similar way. |
Nancy's Notes:
- I used "Fray-Check" on the cut edges of the grosgrain ribbon to prevent fraying.
- Satin ribbon can be used, but grosgrain ribbon usually holds up better in the wash.
- Turn the t-shirt inside-out to wash and dry.
- I did this project on my sewing machine, but it could easily be sewn by hand using needle and thread.
SCORE!! |
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