Make Your Favorite Old T-Shirt New Again

Don't you hate it when your coolest, most favorite/lucky/sentimental old T-shirt finally is no longer fit to be seen in? This 'ible will show you how you can save the best part of your old favorite and get many more years of wear/luck and sentiment from the new one.

Don't forget to vote in the sewing contest!

Step 1: Suplies

• Sewing machine and contrasting thread
• "Steam-a-seam 2" fusable webbing
• Old beloved T-shirt
• New blank T-shirt
• Scissors
• iron

T-shirt fabric is really stretchy and trying to sew the fabric together without the benefit of Steam-a-Seam 2, will turn into a mess. There are other products on the market to act like a stabilizer but this is the only one that I have used that lets the T-shirt feel just like a soft old T-shirt. 

Comments

[AndreaN]

I've made a bunch of these, and next month will be showing other people how to at the Maker Faire (as part of the Swap-A-Rama-Rama remake/re-use/upcycle/whatever you want to call it room.). I'll be doing all kinds of applique but prominently featuring yours. And I will give credit where credit is due. Thanks so much!
-Andrea

[Ninzerbean]

Cool!! Thanks! Show me what you've made.

[AndreaN]

Where's the best place to post the pics?

[Ninzerbean]

Right here, see down on the left when you open the reply box it says "add images"? I cant wait!

[porcupinemamma]

Are those special scissors?

[Ninzerbean]

They are applique scissors, they are really nice to have but you don't need them. They allow you to cut really close to the edge of something that is on top of another piece of fabric.

[porcupinemamma]

Love it!!

[Ninzerbean]

I'll bet with your babies you could do a lot with this 'ible, thank you!

[porcupinemamma]

lol ;0) grandma wants one too ;0) xxoo

[Blackdog Barker]

All of these years I was just sewing the holes closed and stuffing them with pillow batting.. I got a great shirt with a cool logo on the back.. I will just cut out the back and sew it on the front of a new one... So I can look at it..

[Ninzerbean]

Yep!

[MsViv]

Neat idea. My daughter had a T that she didn't want to part with and a friend made her a clock using the T as the face.

[Ninzerbean]

It's weird how we get attached to the stuff on shirts or the shirts themselves, I think it would be fun to do a whole new shirt with lots of old shirt parts attached, I'm glad your friend made good use of your daughter's shirt.

[beccawee]

You can also buy Steam A Seam 2 on a roll. I use it all the time when I'm closing seams that normally would need to be hand stitched. It's probably more expensive, but I'm not sure. My roll is 1/4" x 40' & was +/- $4.00. I like it for projects like this simply because I'm lazy, and you can tear the small strip. LOL. Great I'ble! I'm "semi-mental" about a few of my son's old t-shirts too & it never dawned on me to do something like this. :)

[siriradha]

Great instructible! A few years back, a friend challenged me to come up with a "manly" reusable grocery bag. When DH was ready to toss his Mexican wrestler tee with the "Quien es mas macho?" slogan, I cut out the design and sewed it on a denim bag. Way cool!

[luvit]

is that stymie? stymie's hand's are so.. flesh-tone'd.

[guysgirl]

love this! I do this all the time with sports clothes and jerseys that don't fit me. I cut out the logo and glue it using E6000 to a cute shirt I can find at a store I like. Its also a good way to save money and recycle shirts you would otherwise throw out. Great job on the post and good to know Im not the only one out there who does this! :)

[Creativeman]

Great instructable, Ninzerbean! Wish I could sew...looks like fun. Cman

[red-king]

awesome.