WEEKEND DIY: 15 Min Ruffle Hem Tee Refashion

Life at home with a newborn is exhausting and very... umm... choppy?? haha (everything happens in 2 hours windows). BUT, my new schedule gives me a lot more time on my hands for projects and sewing (hooray!) SO, I've decided to hold myself to weekly DIY projects. I've already got several pages worth of scribbles and doodles of all the project ideas I have floating around in my head. :)

I'm stoked to share this week's project because it's one that took me literally all of about 15 minutes, and costs next to
nothing. For a long time after I started sewing, I was scared to make anything from scratch, so I started with refashioning. Basically, you take a piece of clothing and you... refashion it! Haha. Take to it with a pair of scissors... add a trim, change the neckline, add sleeves, add a ruffle! You just make it your own. :) It's always an adventure and now whenever I go to a thrift store, I feel like I'm on a treasure hunt for pieces with potential to be refashioned into something fresh and new.

So, for this refashion, I took a simple $3.80 basic tee from Forever 21 and added an eyelet ruffle hem to the bottom. Easy peezy. All it takes is a cut, a hem, and a single seam. Yep, that's it.

And you end up with a slightly different take on the classic tee... it's just as easy and comfortable to throw on as a tee, but looks like you put way more effort into getting ready-- which I now realize will be key for me as a new mama. Easy to throw on, but still makes me feel like a functioning human being ;)

All you'll need for this project is a t-shirt (I got mine in a size up to give it a looser fit) and a yard-ish of eyelet trim (mine was about 7" wide). I have a feeling I'll be running to Forever 21 again pretty soon here to grab a few more tees in other colors!

Anyway, read below for the easy instructions on how to make this 15 Minute Ruffle Hem Tee Refashion. :)

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SUPPLIES:

- 1 1/2 yard eyelet trim (I used 7" wide)
- Basic tee (I went up one size)
- matching thread

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Using a dress form or your own body, decide where you want the flounce/ruffle hem to start, and mark accordingly.

STEP 2: Take off the t-shirt and lay out flat on cutting mat. Using a straight edge ruler, cut off the bottom portion of the shirt (adding about 1 1/2 inch for hem).

STEP 3: Turn the shirt inside out. Fold the bottom of the shirt twice, iron, and hem.

STEP 4: Pin the eyelet hem to the shirt's new hemline (with shirt still inside out.. pin the wrong side of shirt, with eyelet facing out). Sew the eyelet to the t-shirt's hem.

STEP 5: Turn shirt right-side-out and iron where the eyelet was attached to the shirt's hem. To finish, top stitch.

And viola! Your new and improved shirt is done! Now throw on that bad boy + some sneakers and go take on the world! :)