Have any ideas to spice up big, old t-shirts?

Question

i have about a ZILLION big, baggy tshirts, but they are all souvenirs of some kind, and i dont want to get rid of them. i use them for pajamas sometimes, but now i have too many pajama t-shirts! can anyone give me detailed ideas on how to spice up and change some of my old shirts so they are not so plain? Thanks!

thanks for all your ideas, but does anyoen have directions for somehow cutting them up and making it a new style, not just selling them. they all have designs from various places or activities i went to, and i want to keep that, just not the plain, baggy shape of the tshirt. i do like the idea of a quilt tho.

hmm another idea, anyone have detailed instructions on how to make a halter or tanktop out of a baggy tshirt?

Answer 1

Wearable: 1) Cut off the sleeves and neck, cutting strips from the sides and then cutting "lace holes" up those same sides (matching sets front and back). You then cut the strips into lengths of about 2" and tie each set of matching holes on the sides.
2) make into a halter by cutting front away from rest of shirt with enough on the sides to lace together in the back to make snug. you can leave the t-shirt neckline for the top or make a small casing and loop a strip of the t-shirt thru for a tie
non-wearable: cut squares of the designs and sew together. get a twin-size sheet (or larger if needed) and cut to fit all the "pictures" and sew on the back to make a light-weight blanket or wall hanging.

Answer 2

I've got a couple of ideas.

1. Use them as art instead
I've seen people pin up t-shirts on their wall as art, if they are visually appealing enough this can look great and expresses a kind of playfulness.

2. Ink Jet Iron-Ons
These things are great. If you have an inkjet printer, buy some iron-on paper. You can print any full color image you have on your computer and then iron it onto your shirts. They are quite permanent and I've used them and had the art last on the shirt for years. You might need to reverse the image before printing but most iron-on papers come with instructions on how to do this.

3. Sew on Sequins or Beads. For permanence, on a thread string beads or sequins, when sewing the strand to the fabric be sure to go back through the fabric between each bead.

3. Patches and Appliques
Cheap, find them in a sewing supply store or on your brothers cub scout uniform. Sew or Iron them on.

Answer 3

Make a dresses out of them. You could make a simple yet fashionable dress out of large T-Shirts. Fashion Designer Todd Oldham wrote an article describing the method for this (with patterns) in the May/June 2004 issue of Ready Made Magazine.

They are easy to make and fun as gifts.

You will have to search their archives or find an old copy.

Answer 4

Sew little sparkly things from the craft store onto them. It will make them the cat's meow! =^_^=

Also try the 80's inspired tie-at-the-side, in which you take up some of that baggy excess t shirt and tie it into a knot at the side of your waist showing a little.

Answer 5

Tie-dye! very simple to do, just get string and knot up sections and put them in tie-dye ink! You can get it from high street shops like Woolworths.

Alternatively, you could add patches, or transfers, or badges of some kind. My sister often attatches random pieces of junk she finds lying about to hers.

Go nuts, be creative - you'll be amazed at how much you can do with big old t-shirts to give them a nw lease of life!

Answer 6

ok well i love this and mabey u dont but put on ur baggy tee right? (this is really hard to explain) use a belt ok? but wat u have to do is bunch the top up and put a belt around your waist with about 2 1/2 inches of material lesft below the belt. u can leave more below the belt to make it a dress but with this you can make it a top to wear over jeans or a skirt. (let the extra material you bunched up above the belt hang loose over the belt. you dont have to get a fancy belt because it prolly wont even show. its just to make a design kinda thing)

Answer 7

Get some transfer paper and create your own iron on transfers. You can use any image or text you want by taking it off the internet or with a digital cam and print it off yourself assuming you have a colour printer.


Alternatively there are llots of great iron on transfers available on ebay prices start under $1!

Answer 8

Use a permanent marker and scribble something all over the t- shirt. Its kinda TRENDY and looks cool too.
U can wear such shirts.

Answer 9

i might carry out a little huge hoop rings, huge bangle bracelets, a black belt with studs on it to make it rocker-stylish. i might do you makeup to adventure the blues and purples on the tee and additionally the two a blue or pink tank below it for some beautiful layering! wish I helped!

Answer 10

cut squares out of them showing what they were from and make a quilt and some pillowcases and put them on your bed or somewhere they can be seen