Hi everyone, I am so excited to share my t-shirt upcycle with you and walk you through how to make it too!
This was a challenge for me, inspired by an amazing youtuber named April who posted a similar video on her channel.
Please definitely check out her channel “coolirpa”
when you get the chance, she is such an inspiration for the entire community here on YouTube!
You can find a link to her video and a list of all of the supplies down in the description!
Before we start, this is what the T-shirts looked like before. I spent a total of 4 dollars
for these and I wanted larger size tshirts for two reasons. One, for more fabric to use
in my creation and two, the length is good for a dress, but I am only 5 feet tall, so
if you’re taller than that, you’ll need to add on a panel to make it longer.
So my idea for the design is focused on the back side of the dress as shown in this clip
of the sketch in progress from my last video. I am thinking a very simple but cool macrame
design for the back of a halter style dress. The dress shape itself, I want it to be very
simple and almost basic so that you can wear it comfortably and to a variety of events.
First, I put the shirt on my dress form and
pin in all the areas I may want tighter. The waist, the arm hole, and the side seams to
make it more form fitting and less like a bag.
Next, I cut off the sleeves at the seams, and then thought it would be cute to keep
it similar to a tunic dress but since these shirts are Adult XL, the arm holes are huge
and I can’t leave them the way they are. So, I scratched that idea and stuck to the
original plan of a halter with a low back. I took out the pins and then marked the shape
of the neckline, the armhole, and then the back neckline with chalk. Then I made sure
to leave some room to finish off the seams.
So, I changed my design again, I originally wanted this to be a halter top, but after
working with it, I want it to be a little more classy, so I am keeping the back slightly
more covered aside from the deep V.
I then took the shirt off the dress from and then separated the front and back panels.
To be honest, I actually thought that I didn’t need to separate the panels, but it’ll be
easier to create a better fitting dress like this. Using an existing sleeveless top I liked,
I traced the front and back armholes using my chalk again. This way, it should fit me
pretty well.
Moving on, I added .5 inch seam allowance so that I can finish off the edges later, fold
the panels in half lengthwise and then cut out the armholes and create a smooth line
along the side seams for a nice transition. It doesn’t need to be perfect here, just
smooth and subtle. This way it helps the dress fit slightly closer to the body.
Next, I want to take the other t-shirt and cut off about 3.5 inches from the bottom.
Cut the panels into 2 and this will be my bottom panel for the dress.
After I tried the dress on, it was a little shorter than I wanted it to be
so I am adding these panels so that I don’t have to worry about exposing myself.
I then pinned the panels along the existing seam and then sewed it using a small zig-zag stitch.
I did this for both the front and back panels.
Once that is done, it’s time to put all panels together. With the wrong sides together,
I sewed the shoulder seams and the side seams. Then I finished of the seams with a serger,
which you don’t have to do since its jersey and jersey doesn’t fray but I like my seams
very clean.
Moving on to the arm hole and neck lines, I just folded the seam over twice at about
⅛ of an inch and sewed using a longer straight stitch, all the way around.
Now since that is done, I am putting it back on the dress form to create the macrame design on the back.
Make sure to flip the dress inside out before you put it back on your dressform
To create the strips, I took the other shirt and cut strips that are ¾
inch wide. I need 10 total of these for my pattern. After they are cut,
I took each piece and pulled them until they rolled onto themselves to create string.
I pinned one piece of string along the top to create an anchor for the pattern to attach
to. and Since I didn’t know much about macrame, I looked up an amazing tutorial that I used
to create the pattern, you can find the link in the description as well, definitely use
that as your reference if you recreate this part.
Basically, I first attached three pieces of string onto the anchor using a Lark’s head
knot. Pinned the ends of the center string to the deepest part of my back cutout as a
center vertical anchor
and then created a square knot and reverse square knot with the inner strands of the outer strings.
Pinned the ends of the strands onto the neckline and then I did the same with the outer strands.
Added one piece of string on each side onto
the anchor for a total of 5 and again did a square knot and reverse square knot.
Pinned the ends of those next to the others on the neckline.
Added 2 more on either side, did the knots again and pinned them for a total of 7.
And then added my last 2 pieces of string, made the knots and then pinned them for a complete
total pattern of 9 pieces of string.
I readjusted the pattern and spacing to my liking, sewed them all into place using a
regular straight stitch at a longer length setting, and then finally snipped off the
extra pieces of string and my dress is done!
It didn’t turn out or fit exactly as I planned, but that’s the beauty of life and art!
I hope this video inspires you to try something you’ve never done before and see where it leads you.
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Thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you next time, bye!