T-shirt Projects

Want to resize a T-shirt? Here’s one way to do it in a fun video tutorial from Secret Life of a Bio Nerd on Threadbanger. Then, after you have your fitted tee, add a cool snipped and looped embellishment. (For those of you following along in your books, it’s sort of like a cross between “Heavy Meshinery” project #27 in Generation T and “Back in Action” project #101 from Generation T: Beyond Fashion–but worked on the diagonal.) Tip: Turn the T-shirt inside out to do the marking and cutting, then right side out again to do the looping (this way, the marks won’t be visible in case it takes time for the lines to fade). Happy cutting and sewing!

GOOOAAAL!!! Did you know that regulation FIFA soccer balls are made up of 32 panels (20 hexagons and 12 pentagons) and held together with 720 stitches? As I root for the various teams battling it out in South Africa, I decided to give myself a challenge at home: to create a softie football. (So I have something to squeeze during penalty kicks and toss around when the good guys score!) And while mine isn’t regulation size (it’s about 6″ in diameter with a 19″ circumference) and perhaps a little lopsided, it’s perfect for tossing around while you’re watching from the couch.

Materials:

2 T-shirt (L) sleeves in color 1

1 T-shirt (L) sleeve in color 2

scissors

needle and thread

access to a photo copy machine

printed paper pattern

stuffing

Make it:

1. Print and enlarge the paper pattern. (Increase to 150% to 200% on the photocopy machine.)

2. Use the pattern pieces to cut 20 hexagons from color 1 and 12 pentagons from color 2.

3. Follow the pattern, stitching pentagons and hexagons, with right sides together.

4. Stitch the panel together to create a spherical shape, leaving one seam open.

5. Turn the shape right side out and stuff it through the open seam.

6. Sew the hole closed with a slipstitch, keeping the stitches concealed. Done!

And if you don’t have the patience to stitch your own, check out the balls by Lara Newsom at Handmade Pretties who fashions soccer and basketballs out of scrap jersey, fleece, and sweater material. Accordingly, she has an “undying devotion to recycling and deconstruction”–just check out her sweater and jersey skirts, not to mention the personalized play balls–there are giant ones, too, as seen in ReadyMade!

And don’t forget, long after the matches have ended, the cheers have died down, and the sound of the vuvuzelas have faded, you can still practice in the off-season–no need to wait for the next World Cup!

You have T-shirts transformed into throw pillows, T-shirts into rugs, T-shirts into a quilt for the bed, a tablecloth and napkins for the table–you’ve got every item to furnish a room except for a chair! (And maybe the dresser, but that’s for a future challenge.)

Thanks to Becky Stern at Craft (right, photo by Nathan Rosenquist) and Tiffany Threadgould of RePlayground (with inspiration from Instructables user Seamster) you need look no further! Gather up the materials and follow the video tutorial below with Becky and Tiffany to learn how to make it!

Materials and tools:

• old T-shirts (about 12-18)
• scissors
• pattern paper
• ruler
• protractor
• pencil/pen
• marking chalk
• sewing machine
• thread
• utility knife or serrated bread knife
• cutting mat
• upholstery foam (scrapped from trash furniture, an old mattress, or leftover from another project)
• straight pins
• hand sewing needle

Pillow Chair from Old T-Shirts – CRAFT Video from make magazine on Vimeo.

Let us know how it goes! AND, for a smaller pet version, gather up 4 large T-shirts and check out project #68 “T-shirt’s Pet” in Generation T: Beyond Fashion to make this lovely cushion for your furry best friend:

Remember the totally awesome Generation T apron that Megan (one of our readers) made? Well, here’s another take on the T-shirt apron, with photos and tutorial courtesy of a DIYer named Disney from her blog, Ruffles and Stuff. (We added the materials list for easy planning.) Treat yourself by making an apron just for you–or, Mother’s day is just around the corner! You can also adapt the one with pockets as a gardening apron–you know, for all those flowers you’re planting.

Materials:

1 T-shirt (preferably size L)

scissors

straight pins

ruler

needle and thread (or sewing machine)

1. Cut the front design out in a large rectangle from sleeve inseam to sleeve inseam, and from under the neck to the bottom of the shirt:

2. Fold the bottom of the shirt up until it’s right under the shirt logo or design, then fold the hem down to create a more finished look. Sew into four even sections, with the end section sewn into two for spoon slots.

3. Using the back of your shirt, cut 6 strips, 2.5″ x 24″:

5. You should have two long snakes. Put them on top of each other with wrong sides facing and seams matched, pin, and stitch allllll the way around to make your apron waistband/ties.

6. Then pin your apron skirt to the back in the center, and sew it on!

All done!

To add ruffles, like those on the yellow one, cut a 3″ strip that is 1.5 times the length of your apron skirt’s hemline. Sew with a straight stitch on the longest length, and pull one thread to gather. Then sew the front of the apron’s hemline!

RufflesandStuff via ApartmentTherapy via Craftzine.

It’s still April for a few more days, and this weekend there were showers a-plenty here in a Brooklyn. So what better activity than another flowery DIY project for you to prepare for May: a cluster of colorful blooms! Brought to you as project #29, Fleur-de-Tee  from Generation T: Beyond Fashion: 120 New Ways to Transform a T-shirt, these lovely rosettes are also commonly known in the craft world as “yo-yos.”

You can apply them to headbands or barrettes, make shoe clips, quilts, pillows, or decorate the hem of a skirt! (Or, or, or…the possibilities are endless.) What kind of a yo-yo flower garden will you plant…and where?

Happy day after Earth Day! …in which we craft a softie blossom. I think of scrap fabric as true fertilizer for these blooms; they grow out of the piles of T-shirt sleeves and hems that are leftover from other projects and “composted” in my overflowing scrap bins. Sometimes I “turn” the compost, not to encourage the pieces to break down faster (as is done in real composting), but to see if the shift uncovers any new colors or if viewing the scraps from a different angle inspires a new project!

Without further ado, here’s Flower Power, project #89 in Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt for your DIY pleasure:

Happy Earth Day, friends! I like to think of Earth Day as being a year-round occasion over here at Generation T, and then when April 22 rolls around, it’s like prom–a touch more excitement in the air, everybody’s on their best behavior, and maybe there’s a DJ–because, hey, why not? Earth Day should totally have a soundtrack.

So, it was raining last night in Brooklyn. And while April showers bring the living, breathing flowers that poke through the soft ground in May,  April rain also encourages a different sort of flower: the kind that comes from a rainy evening or weekend inside, when you’re cozied up crocheting or knitting or stitching or cutting and gluing. This is when various non-wilting flowers are born.

So amidst the sometimes dreary days in April, Generation T is celebrating flowers and the spring rains that inspire all sorts of beauty to pop up! Here’s the first of four flower tutorials for you to try.

Let’s start, appropriately, with small buds–Nip It In the Bud is project #90 in Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt. Here it is, for you:

From the Threadbanger archives (originally posted October 2007), here’s a video tutorial for a T-shirt skirt (otherwise known as a T-skirt) inspired by the Road Trippin’ skirt (project #64) in Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt. Rob and Corinne (of Threadbanger) traveled to San Francisco to meet the lovely Vanina of 12 Mood Studios, and here’s what they made:

I love this skirt because it’s like a scrapbook you can wear–the project in my book uses 6 different T-shirts (for 6 different panels), but in this video, Vanina made one with 3 panels…and it looks like she made another skirt with more panels! No matter how many tees you use, it’s fun to gather the memories and colors from your fabric stash and piece them into a new outfit for new adventures!