Refashioning my tees into toddler tunics

Read all the way to end to uncover this tee's life story!

Upcycling knitwear is a very satisfying way to recover some wear from your old grown-up teeshirts.  I've already turned grown-up tees into baby pants (see here).  Now I'm looking into transforming tees into toddler tops.  Ever since I had kids, all my tops are too short.  I cannot figure this out (I mean, I know why they're too tight, but why too short?).  In any case, I have a bin of old teeshirts with cool logos and interesting prints that's sitting in the basement.  Upcycling knitwear saves you having to find and buy cotton knit fabric, which is not so easy and rather pricey.

Inspired by a knit series on Rae's great blog, I've been thinking more about the benefits of sewing knits for my children.  After all, most of our favorite store-bought kids' clothes are knits.  I love dressing my daughter in Tea tunics like these, when we're lucky enough to get them as hand-me-downs:

 

Down to the basement I went.  I pulled out the current best-fitting Tea tunic before naptime, so here's what I had to work with:

Left: pricey, cute toddler tunic. Right: grown-up tee that's seen better days on mama.  As in, a decade ago.

Then, I needed to cut down the big tee.  I followed the tunic's width for cutting the sides and I cut the sleeve as you see here:

From top: original sleeve, new sleeve, model sleeve

Here are the steps for sewing the new tunic:

1. Poke a hole in the neckline (do this wherever it's seamed - usually at one shoulder, which I noticed too late).  Thread some very thin elastic through with a safety pin and cinch it to match the neckline of your model shirt.  Stitch down the elastic on either side of the poked hole.  Not elegant, but totally functional and really not something anyone but you will notice.

Don't poke in the middle of the back like I did - you'll run into a shoulder seam almost immediately!

Gathered neckline fits a little kid easily.

2. Sew the side seams up to where you plan to add the sleeves.

3. Sew your sleeves into the sleeve holes.  This involves some stretching and pinning and is the most time-consuming step.  Hang in there.  You're almost done.

4. Try the shirt on your kiddo and adjust hem accordingly.  Warning to the uninitiated: hemming knits is hell.  Read Rae (see above) for tips or get ready for a wavy, wavy ride (as I did).  

A bit too long, I'd say.  Must wait 'til next nap to hem.  And it's Sunday.  Ah well.  See you next week.

One week later, the hem is done.  As a French teacher (reason why I can't sew 5 days of the week!), I must inform you that this shirt reads: Perfect!  With plenty of small faults.  Bought in Strasbourg in 2006.

5. You can do this with short-sleeve tees, too.  However, the sleeve will be too wide at the hem (with long sleeves, the width is close enough to begin with).  You'll need to seam the sleeve to make it narrower before Step 3.

Neged ayin ha-ra (Hebrew) means: Against the evil eye. I bought this tee in Jerusalem in 2001, when taking the bus to the mall felt like a death-defying act because of the second Intifada.

Happy sewing!