Re-sewn clothing?

[AngwyMallard]

Right. I went on a huge cleaning spree recently and found a dirtload of my old, loose shirts and blouses that I used as a little butch teenager. My first thought was to throw them all away, but I got 2nd thoughts - I have nothing against tartan patterns, good ol' emo gray and other fabrics used to these pieces.

It occurred to me that I could save money and my old clothes by undoing the seams and finding new moddles, maybe knitting a little lace for some, finding waistlines *gasp* and making them a bit more feminine over all. After all, these babies are mostly like tents, lots of fabric to work with.

I'm propbaly going to start to work on these after I get out of some icky exams - and am really excited at the thought of hopefully getting some cheap&eco-fiendly clothing out of these horrid old bags.

Has any of you done something like this? Thoughts, tips?  

[Tes]

~
There are some old shirts that I have considered fixing up because they too are like tents (rather because I got them from my bf) Some I have had to decide against because in taking them in I would ruin the huge decal on the back or end up wrapping it all the way around front. The rest are less interesting.
I have bought things at second hand stores though, that essentially fit but didn't have a very nice cut to them while still having the start of what I was looking for.
Sometimes it can be a real hassel to demolish and rebuild clothing(the worst for me? an army jacket which the sleeves were made 3/4 length, was made shorter, and fitted... the worst of all was moving the pockets) but I think that in the end it's very worthwhile. You'll end up looking better in your old band shirts than other groupies will. And it won't be as shameful wearing them out of the house as it would be to appear in public in a great billowing tent shirt xd
I say go for it. T shirts are easy to work with 3nodding
~

 

[Lychee Fruit]

Turning t-shirts into uber-short dresses with lace? Sounds good to me! ^__^  

[AngwyMallard]

ScribblerChrislea

Turning t-shirts into uber-short dresses with lace? Sounds good to me! ^__^

Hah, I would, but I only need more cloth for my dresses... >.> Needs to cover my knees at least. I have one anchient gown I used as a wizard costume as a kid though, and I'm thinking of transforming it into a little lacey dream~  

[Tonaire]

That's an awesome idea. I've been thinking about doing that kinda thing too.  

[buttoneyes]

I do reconstructions all the time. I'm too busy to go buy fabric (or more like too lazy), so I find old junky clothes and I recon them.

What I do with old blouses is make them into shorter, puff sleeve blouses (I love puff sleeves with a passion!)

Basically you cut out the sleeves, cut down the sides. You ruche the upper part of the sleeves, and then re sew them to fit your arm. Them take the sleeves andmeasure the arm holes and sew them till they fit. Resew the sleeves back on, and sew down the sides the length and width you want them to. And them hem it. Tada! A new feminine blouse.

If this is confused you can ask me in detail... it's a lot easier with pics really.  

[sakurachan61123]

this is what I do ALL the time . . . it's for cosplay really. Even when using a pattern I usually end up changing it. I've used a lot of my own clothing and changed it up. I enjoy doing it. Makes things a LOT cheaper tee hee heeeeeee.  

[switchblade12]

ythat is fun too...you could make them fit better or you can make them look better  

[koneko muya]

there's tutorials all over the interweb( xd ) and if you have a livejournal there's communities there that have great ideas.

I like turning old shirts and pants into uber cute and fun bags, pouches, and wallets. ish fun heart heart heart heart  

[Umberella]

I love making stuff out of old clothes! I've made totebags, quilted bedspreads, corsets, shirts, purses, and belts. The corsets are fun because nobody is going to have what you're wearing. That makes the purses pretty unique too.
I made a pretty cool bag out of an old concert t-shirt. The design wasn't ruined and I made the shirt much more useful.  

[Liquitine]

About a week or two ago on the Martha Stewart show, they featured a book about altering old tshirts into new shirts. It was really interesting. I think the book was called 108 Ways to Transform a Tshirt. They made old tshirts into tube tops, tank tops, and all sorts of fun ideas.  

[Fuyubi]

Old clothes can be fun to use. There are some sites, and even in magazines that show you how to make old clothes into new fashionable shirts and pants =) My cousin, she once look her old long sleeve shirt and made it into a halter top XD You can go and buy some beads and laces at some craft shop or even the dollar store and do some funky designs to jazz it up heart  

[Blue-eyes-green]

I'm currently wearing a mini-skirt that I made from an old night gown after one of the straps got permantly mangled. If you like a piece of clothing and it dies, or your utterly uninterested in it as it is, reincarnating can be a lot of fun.
Another thing you can do with old clothes if re-making them doesn't work out is cut them into squares and use them as quilt bits. I did this with a bunch of my brother's shirts from highschool when I made a quilt for him, and it made it all the more special. (it also helped me save money on fabric,)