PROJECT RECYCLE - Men's Used Shirt (DAY ONE)

 

First project was pretty easy.

 

The hardest part was planning ahead so that I didn't cut any fabric that could interfere with future projects. Sort of like a Rubik's cube -- I kept turning the shirt over, sideways, measuring and re measuring to make sure I would have enough fabric for each item.

 

My first step was cutting the shirt at the chest.

 

 

Since I don't have any young children around for measurement, I used a child's size 3 pattern to get the correct size. The pattern called for the fabric to be placed into a fold, but this wasn't possible. Lucky for me, the plaid lines of the shirt made measuring so much easier!

I was able to place the pattern on the line, and then turn the pattern over to face the other direction and cut the arm/sides.  No folding needed. The fabric was doubled, so that the dress/shirt would have both sides for front and back.

I went ahead and took apart the neck, thinking I would LINE the inside arms of the dress, but decided against it when I realized that I had very little COLOR to add to the plaid. I wanted to save the beige fabric for something special, rather than get all fancy on the dress.

Now what can I use this strip of beige fabric for?

Please be aware, I'm not doing a sewing tutorial, so I may skip a few steps. What I'm mainly showing here is how I'm sectioning off the shirt.

I also needed to cut the sleeves apart, because I'm going to need straps for the dress. Since I can't use any notions for the project (snaps, elastic, etc.) Remember, I'm only using THREAD on this challenge. Nothing else.

FIRST, I hand sewed both sides of the dress together.

NEXT, I rolled hemmed the under arms of the dress.

THEN, I overlapped the neckline of the front and back of the dress so that I could slide in the slaps.

 Again, I'm planning ahead for future projects, so in advance I had already premeasured items. Pictured here, I have the sleeve doubled, folded over so that I can cut. This is to make sure I have plenty of room to sew these into straps.

Folding over to sew strap
.

 Using a safety pin, I'm turning the strap inside out.

 

I had to sew two of these straps, as each strap is inserted into the front/back neckline of dress.

I didn't "hem" the edges of the straps as they are rolled into knots.

 

The straps are now adjustable and can be tied/re tied.

 

This outfit is perfect as a dress for a one year old, or can be used as a sun top for a toddler up to 5.  

 First project complete!

Tomorrow, I'll be posting updates for DAY TWO of the Project Recycle Challenge.

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