Thursday, November 08, 2012

T-shirt reconstruction - Alepocalypse

This t-shirt is special to me because it's my first morris ale t-shirt, but it was shapeless and baggy and maybe I didn't really want a tank top anyway.



Sorry that my computer reverses the image - it's really quite clever with its listing of various end times past

I love Pinterest and have been pinning t-shirt recons like crazy. I finally got up the nerve to use them. This post isn't a tutorial because there are so many wonderful tutorials already on the internet. This post is just to show how I combined them to create a top that I love!

First, I altered this baggy t-shirt into shape based on a tutorial that suggested using a well-fitting shirt as a pattern and tracing it onto the bigger shirt. After tracing, I sewed it up, checked the fit and then cut off the excess. I even pressed open the seams. Since I was dealing with a tank top, sleeves were not an issue.



Then, I decided to add a bustle back to this t - I love this tutorial, love her attitude, love the sound of her voice, I've watched it many times. For my bustle, I used scraps from a failed recon of a black t-shirt as well as satin and sheer bits I used in my bustle project (which I've yet to write up and post). I love that synthetic material does not need to be hemmed to avoid fraying but can be melted using a lighter. I had so much fun watching the ends curl up and I figured it would add an interesting texture to the bustle. I thought about adding some velvet bits because I think that would have been awesome, but I didn't feel like hemming it and worried it would shed.




Finally, I decided that I really wanted to add sleeves to this. I debated whether to add long sleeves or short and very nearly added long velour sleeves from an unloved zip jacket that was given to me. I decided velour would make it too cold-weather seasonal and decided to stick with jersey. I had a failed recon that I figured I'd use for scrap and decided to use its sleeves. I picked out the ribbing on the armscye and added the sleeves just by pinning them in place and sewing -- it was pretty easy, even for a novice like me.