T-Shirt Upcycling

I had a couple of old plain shirts I wanted to add a bit of pizzazz to. With some leftover colored floss from making friendship bracelets, I sewed a little geometric design onto a piece of paper, which I glued onto a piece of colored paper to put into my sketchbook. I liked the design so much that I thought it'd make a perfect addition to the edge of a plain white shirt.

 

I thought the shirt still looked a little plain after embroidering it, so I decided to add a pocket.

First, I made a stencil of the pocket shape I wanted, and using leftover fabric scraps, ironed and sewed them into the proper shape. The two blue pockets were recycled from a blue linen dress that my mom cut and shortened, and I embroidered little designs on them. The floral pocket was made using a scrap from a kitchen curtain.

pocket stencil

I sewed 255 little red squares onto one of the blue pockets, which I added to the embroidered white v-neck.

I sewed a few little yellow x's to the other blue square, which I added to a green and white striped shirt.

I love how little changes to clothes I already have can make a big difference in my wardrobe. I'll be looking for more ways to add a little something to my plainer articles of clothing.

<3 Mandy