Black t-shirts are staples in a capsule wardrobe, but if you’ve got a little stack that have seen better days, then it could be time to give this refashioning tutorial a go. Here, designer Portia Lawrie walks you through how to create a relaxed semi-fitted garment by adding length to an already existing garment. You’ll also learn how to attach a gathered frill, like the one shown here, or you can finish with a panel of ungathered fabric for a minimalist look.
Turn a tee into the oh-so-lovely
1 Select one T-shirt as the top section of the dress and unpick the hem. Remove the top sections of the remaining two T-shirts by cutting straight across, under the arms, as shown. You can set aside the top sections for future projects. Retain the bottom portions for the skirt section [Fig.1].
2 Unpick the hems of the harvested bottom sections and give all three hems a good press. Cut away one side seam on each of the harvested bottom sections so they can each be opened up into a long strip of fabric [Fig.2]. With right sides facing, sew together the two bottom T-shirt strips to form one large loop of fabric. The circumference will be roughly double the hem circumference of the top T-shirt we’ll attach it to [Fig.3].
3 Gather the skirt section around the top edge until its circumference is equal to the hem of the T-shirt. To gather, sew three parallel rows of machine tacking stitches along the top edge of the skirt section. Pull on the thread tails to gather the top edge – arranging the gathers evenly – until its circumference is equal to the hem of the T-shirt [Fig.4].
4 With the T-shirt right sides out and the skirt section wrong sides out, tack the top edge of the skirt to the hem of the T-shirt, right sides together and raw edges aligned. Sew in place, then remove the tacking stitches [Fig.5].
5 For the sleeveless dress, cut away the sleeves roughly 1cm away from the seam; the 1cm will act as a kind of hem allowance for the armhole at the end [Fig.6]. Try on the dress, with wrong sides of the dress facing out. Pinch out the underarm/side seam and observe where you’ll need to take in the side seam, in order for the armhole to sit smoothly. On both sides, chalk a line that starts at that point and blends into the existing side seam as pictured [Fig.7].
6 With the wrong sides facing out, machine tack the new side seams. Try on the dress again and assess the fit. Adjust if necessary [Fig.8]. You can start off m
