Made By Lex

If you’re like me, you have quite a few of those shirts laying around that aren’t really nice enough to wear out of the house anymore. I had quite a few and was wondering what to do with them.. Then I remembered that my favorite lounging shirt was this one that I had that is sort of slouchy and hangs off the shoulder. It makes me feel feminine, dare I say, a tad sexy?? So I thought to myself, ‘why not turn these yucky old tees in to something that will make me feel the way that shirt does?’

So journey along with me into an easy tutorial to durn drab into fabulous! Here’s the shirt I’m starting with. One of your old hubby’s t’s would work great, too.
Cut the neckline out. I do it a little higher in the back, a little lower in thr front. You can measure your shoulders to see the width you want it. You could be done here. But I’m making this one extra special!

I cut my sleeves so they would be 3/4 length.

Then I took some leftover sleeve parts and made little strips about 6 inches long. I just folded them in the center and stitched them closed. We’re going to make sleeve pick ups!

Put th epick up in the sleeve and figure out how high you want it to pick up.

Fold the other end up and pin in place. Then stitch it.

Now for a dainty extra detail. I saw somehting like this on Grossgrain recently so this flower is based off of one of hers. I used a similar colored stretch silk that I used in the Stillwater top. Cut out circles, about 10 for each flower.

Using a thread and needle, fold in half and string them through.

Here’s how it will look after you put them all on.

I didn’t want to worry about usinf fray check on all these every time I have to wash the shirt, so I wanted to set mine on a seperate pin so I could remove them before washing them. I cut out a small circle of felt. The just stitch the flower on.

I added a small pearl in the middle of mine.

Then glue on pins to the backside.

Aren’t they just lovely??
Pin them on the top of the pick up.

And here’s your cozy, feminine new shirt.
I love the extra detail at the sleeves.

It felt good to turn something so pajama-ish into something still equally cozy, but much more attractive.

Because being a mom has a way of taking that out of the daily, ordinary life. And its nice to find tiny ways to put a touch of femininity back in somewhere.

Here is an order that I did the other day that is based off of of THIS tutorial.

I love love love these colors together!

It’s so soft and feminine.A closeup of the flower.

A bunchy, gathered riboned neckline.

I have some really cool new couture t shirts that I’ve made for my sisters for Christmas. They are something totally different than I’ve ever done and I’m going to put some in my shop when business slows down. I can’t wait to show them to you!

This was an order for a refashion I did yesterday. I love the way it came out and think it would make a great holiday dress with cute jewelry and heals, but it would be perfect in the summer with casual sandals, too.

I started with this plain black jersey dress. My client, Morgan, from Pepper Design Blog wanted it shorter. So I took 7 inches off the bottom.
If you don’t have extra to work with, get a 1/4 yard from the fabric store or use an old T-shirt. Cut the long piece in half and ruffle it.

Pin it beginning from halfway on the back of the strap around the front…

…all the way around the neckline and down the middle. Notice I’m pinning it inside out so once it’s sewn you can flip it over without seeing the seam.

Here’s how it will look after you stitch it in place.

Do the same to the other side.

Then take another piece of jersey, double the length of the bodice top.

Ruffle it down the middle.

Pin it down the center of the shirt in between the other two pieces. Stitch it in place.

Here’s how it looks!

And here’s the back. I love how it creates little flutter sleeves.

I want one for myself!

Here’s a simple way to updo a shirt that I did for an order this week. I got black jersey that I ruffled into strips. Then I pinned it into little rosette shapes.

Attach more until they are in random swirls on the shirt.

Here’s how many I did on the side of the sweater. After pinning it well, stitch in place.

Now you have a unique and much more exciting garment!

I also added a small one to the pocket on the opposite side.

Right now I am knee deep in Christmas orders and Christmas presents. So this month I will be doing lots of creating, just not too many tutorials because of my very limited time. But I will be posting all my creations still. I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas season!

Is everyone sick of these yet?

Here’s another tank that I just added some pretty fabric to for a simple updo.
I added another piece on the back collar.

I really like this one! I took small strips of fabric and bunched them then stitched over them three times.

It will continue to fray a little more as it washes. I love this deconstructed look.

I did it all the way around the back, too.

I took this lilac shirt and added some color and a lot of texture to it.

I took this golden linen and placed it on the edges.

Then I stitched over it randlomly a few times.

I think the texture makes it look so neat.

I did a similar texture addition here.

I pleated an pinned this raw edge cream cotton.Then I stitched over it.

It adds a lot of interest to the neckline.

I really like this one. I can’t wait to try this technique on something else, too.