Recycle an old t-shirt into a fitted top

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How to turn an old t-shirt into a fitted top:

I used to love wearing big baggy t-shirts, and had quite a collection with lots of groovy designs on them!

Now - I really never wear baggy t-shirts. I prefer fitted clothes - and living in tropical Far North Queensland, t-shirts can be a bit too hot!

I've only a few of my t-shirt collection remaining, and they have stayed at the bottom of a drawer in my wardrobe, unworn for years now!

So I decided to try and recycle them into something I could wear!

 I took one of my t-shirts, bought in Japan about 15 years ago, that was very stretched (especially around the neck),  baggy and really unwearable as is:

Here's what to do, if you want to try this yourself!

First take one of your current tops to roughly measure the size you need to cut:

And cut sections from both the front and the back - it's up to you how long you want your new top to be. I like them quite short:

Now this t-shirt was especially thin, so I cut another section to double the layer on the front of the top. (sorry forgot to take a picture of this - but just cut the same width of the front panel - and as long as you can with the piece that is left on the botton of your t-shirt after you cut the main panel)

Here's a picture of all the pieces I cut for the next t-shirt!

Then place your front and back panels - right sides together and pin down the sides.  Add the extra layer for modesty behind the front panel:

Stitch down both sides, then double turn and stitch all the way around the bottom to make a neat hem.

Now you need to make the straps.

Cut two strips from the left-over t-shirt, 4 cm wide and around 30 cm long:

(they are longer in this picture - I ended up cutting them shorter later on)

Then for each strip, fold the edges in to the middle, then in again and stitch:

You should end up with two straps like this:

Now you need to pin your straps to your top.

If you have 2 layers of t-shirt at the front, push the straps between the two layers and fold the raw edges in towards the strap to neaten.

Pin all around and stitch :

Then put it on and wear your new top with pride!

Here's a couple of others I did the same with:

For the downloadable PDF version of this tutorial, click here.

For lots more (over 100) of my free sewing tutorials go here!