T-Shirt Reconstruction

This post was originally posted at MissMalaprop.com by NOCM member Mallory.

I spent all day Saturday sewing and teaching people at Bayou Boogaloo how to turn their old t-shirts into cute halter tops, tote bags and more. It was so much fun and a BIG hit! Even people who didn't think they had the slightest crafty bone in their body realized that there are some really simple things that you can do to reinvent your old tees!

I think between the three of us (Heather from Unique Products, Kerry from Bayou Salvage, and myself), we must have helped at least 100 people turn t-shirts into cute halter tops! Not to mention the tote bags and a few more elaborate projects we helped with.



Want to know what to do with your old tees? Check out the gURL guide to customizing a t-shirt, which features tutorials by Megan Nicolay (author of Generation T: 108 ways to transform a t-shirt), or find many more t-shirt and clothing tutorials at WhatTheCraft and Cut Out + Keep.

You can also turn your old t-shirts into cute underwear, or make a t-shirt bikini. The guys at Threadbanger will even show you how to make a pair of swim trunks out of an old suit:



Threadbanger has loads more tutorials on how to reinvent your old clothes, including t-shirts. You can also check out the long-running community over at t-shirt surgery to see what people have done with their old tees.

Raquel Allegra is an up-and-coming designer famous for her couture shredded t-shirts recycled from Los Angeles County Jail clothing. The amazing OustaPop of Finland has come up with a tutorial on how to recreate this shredded t-shirt look. She has more trashion tutorials on her blog and at Cut Out + Keep.

You can pick up 99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Trim, and Tie Your T-Shirt into Something Special or Tease: Inspired T-shirt Transformations by Superstars of Art, Craft, & Design for even more t-shirt tutorials!

Do you have tutorials on how to recycle your old clothes or anything else for that matter? I would LOVE to see them and share them at MissMalaprop.com. Please let me know, because I'd love to start sharing more tutorials with you guys, but I need your help! If you've got tutorials that you've written, preferably with a few pictures, please email me at mallory [AT] missmalaprop.com!

Would you like to host a similar event with NOCM members? We got some great feedback while doing this event, and we'd love to teach even more people how easy it can be to turn trash into treasure! Let us know if you have a space to host us for a tutorial session or have an upcoming event and want to make us a part of it!