Like you (I’m sure), I have collected a lot of t-shirts over the years. Sometimes they are free shirts from events, or one of my husband’s that I decide I will use as a PJ shirt and it never quite makes the cute, either way, I have  a lot of them. So, I figured what better way to put them to use than re-purposing them.

I wanted to start simple, and show how I size down t-shirts that are too large. Here is how I took a men’s size medium and altered it a women’s small.

Step One: Figure out which shirt you want to alter, then find a shirt that fits nicely that you’d like it to mimic. Turn the larger shirt inside out and lay the smaller shirt on top. Make sure the shoulders line up and your smaller shirt is directly in the center.

Step Two: Take a sharpie and outline the smaller shirt, being very careful not to get too close to the top shirt. You could even use a water soluble marker if you are altering a light colored shirt.

Step Three: Pin along the line, making sure that everything is lining up correctly (i.e., sleeve holes, any design elements on the shirt, bottom hem)

Step Four: Sew along the line, removing pins as you go.

Step Five: Turn shirt right side in. Try it on to make sure it fits right. If it doesn’t, tweak it until it does.

Step Six: Cut the excess fabric on the side of the shirt. Leave a little under an inch, you don’t want to cut too close!

You can hem your sleeves, but I like to roll mine, I find with shirts that have broader shoulders, it’s just easier. If you do roll them, you can add a stitch or two to make sure they don’t come unrolled, just make sure they are hidden.