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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

How to make a shirt reversible! Tutorial

Here's a tutorial I hope you'll have a use for! I had this pretty lace-backed tee in a loose, boxy-but-flattering shape, and one day was looking through my closet for a lace top in the same neutral ivory. I found this one in my drawer and tried it on backwards. It didn't work. The neckline was way too high on my neck, and obviously had a tag at the center [front]. So I figured, I should make this reversible from front to back!

So here's the step-by-step. All you need is a tee and some coordinating fabric which you'll cut into bias strips (I used basic woven cotton).


Before:


So, how to make a t-shirt reversible!


1. Find the center back and taper toward the shoulder seams.

(Try it on to see if the new neckline you just cut is low enough.)

2. Cut about 1/3 yard of bias tape out of a similarly colored fabric. My tee had a rib knit binding edge anyway, so I'll bend my new binding with the old at the join. (Cut your bias about three times as wide as your original binding.)

3. Press one side of the bias strip under, 1/3 the total width.

4. Pin the bias binding right sides together with the back of the tee. Pin carefully so you don't stretch out the tee--you'd end up with a wavy, puckery neck edge. Sew.

5. Press your seam open, then press back toward the inside of the shirt and pin in place. Turn the edges of the bias under to hide the raw edges.

6. Topstitch! I gave mine two rows separately, but you could use a double needle or just do one row... try to match the rest of the neckline.

7. Sew down the turned-under edges at the side/shoulder seams.

Done!


Here it is on! Now it's a boat neck on the lace side and the same high scoop neck in the back.


5 comments

  1. What a creative idea for getting more use from a piece. I'm always so inspired and amazed at all the ideas you have and you pull them off so breezily and easily!

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  2. Sarah Latchem3/14/2013

    Great idea! I love the lace side more than the real front!

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  3. Is it silly that I want to make a bunch of shirts like this for my upcoming trip to Europe, so I don't look like I'm wearing the same thing every day in my pictures for 4 weeks? Oh no, I sound totally vain! :)

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  4. dolce vita3/15/2013

    I LOVE it! I have so many sweaters that I would love to just wear backwards but can't :)
    Also, you're based in PDX and I JUST moved here for school!

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  5. Pretty top, and such an easy variation to get a very different look! Thanks for the tutorial :)

    ReplyDelete

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