Up-cycling Shirts

Making doll shirts is the perfect way to reuse favorite old t-shirts that no longer fit and to add variety to your collection. It is also a great source of fabric when experimenting with new patterns. I first started learning to make doll shirts through a free Liberty Jane Pattern. Once I felt confident which how the pattern pieces worked, I began sketching out my own patterns.  I tried out different necklines, sleeves, hems and more.  There is a lot of freedom when it comes to making a t-shirt truly unique.

My doll wardrobe was so full of little t-shirts all made from the same base pattern I was getting tired of it. So who says you should be limited keeping the front panel of a shirt 1 piece? I was inspired by the curved seam in the new "Tropical Bloom Outfit" by American Girl when I created the Tank top Samantha is wearing.

Tropical Bloom Shirt From AG

Up-cycling shirts is also a great way to give your dolls something name brand.  For the t-shirt Addy is wearing I made certain to include the little "Aeropostale"printed on the shirt.

Yellow Dog Shirt Project

I sometimes like to look back through photo albums of past family vacations.  One album I looked at, from the summer I was 12 years old, had an outfit that caught my attention. A yellow shirt I fondly remember wearing on hot days.  It had an oddly proportioned dog embroidered on with dark brown thread.

I lack a "mini-me" so Addy is my stand in.

Anyways, I had a similar color of knit fabric in my stash so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try some hand embroidery and sewing with stretchy fabrics.

The embroidery part was easy enough once i sketched out the little dog and had it in my embroidery hoop. It was the sewing with knit material that proved difficult.  I quickly learned thin and stretchy is a frustrating combo with fabric.  -_-   But after some work it turned out pretty well overall.  I picked up a few little tricks and am ready to tackle stretchy, knit materials again!

Note: The shorts are from a Liberty Jane pattern. The shirt also started from a free Liberty Jane pattern but I ended up fussing around with it.