5 Creative Ways You Can Upcycle Your T-Shirts

BlueprintDIY
by BlueprintDIY
5 Materials
5 Minutes
Easy

Got a pile of old t-shirts that you’re just about ready to throw away? Stop! I’ll show you five different ways you can upcycle and upstyle your t-shirts, taking them from drab to fab in no time! This tutorial is so easy and for four of the five projects all you’ll really need is a pair of fabric scissors and the courage to cut! Check out my step-by-step tutorial below to learn how you can turn your plain, old t-shirts into fashion statements!

Tools and Materials:

  • T-shirt
  • Fabric scissors
  • Ruler
  • Fabric chalk (I use a bit of an old bar of soap for my fabric markings)
  • Washable fabric glue
Fabric Scissors

Before we get started, I want to talk about scissors. You’ll find fabric scissors at most craft shops. It’s important to use fabric scissors only for fabric, as they are much sharper than regular scissors and paper will dull them. 

Cropped t-shirt
Be brave


For this project, we’ll be removing the collar and cropping the top. I suggest trying the shirt on and marking where you want to crop it. Add pins to the areas that you want to cut.

DIY cropped t-shirt

Then cut off the collar and the excess fabric at the bottom of the shirt. Don’t worry if you don’t cut completely evenly at the bottom of the shirt. If you want the shirt to be a little more off-the-shoulder, cut further away from the collar.

How to crop a t-shirt

Give the bottom hem a little pull, this will hide any little imperfections. Check out the end of the video to see how I styled this top!

Triangle cut-out shirt
Be cool


Lay the t-shirt so that the front side is in half, and make sure that it’s on a flat, smooth surface. Then use a ruler to draw a straight line from the collar down towards the middle, in a V shape.

How to create a cut-out shirt

Now cut along the line until you get to the collar.

Collar cut-out shirt

Then open the t-shirt up and lay it flat. Cut along the collar, removing a triangle piece of the fabric. And now you have a v-neck choker T!

T-shirt with double-fold sleeves

Whenever I do this cut I like to add a double-fold to the sleeves as well, adding a hidden safety pin when I don’t feel like sewing.

How to shred a shirt
Be wild


For this one, I’ll show you how to shred a t-shirt. You can do this on any area of a shirt, but I’m going to show you how I did it on the back. First, I cropped the shirt. As you can see, it didn’t end up totally even because I didn’t cut it on a flat surface. When that happens, you can always go back and cut it straight. 

How to shred a t-shirt

Turn the shirt inside out and fold it so that the back of the shirt is folded in half. Then, using a ruler, mark an inverted V shape from the middle of the shirt to the bottom.

DIY shredded t-shirt

Next, mark evenly spaced lines going up the back of the V. You can mark the lines with whatever spacing you like, but I cut mine an inch apart.

DIY shredded t-shirt back

Then cut the lines that you just marked.

Shredded t-shirt

Now stretch the shirt and there you go!

Shredded t-shirt back


Cold shoulder shirt
Get creative


Now that you’ve had some experience cutting fabric, let’s get a bit creative! For this one, I just eyeballed a shoulder cut-out. If you want to be more exact you can try it on and add pins for where you want to add the cut-out. Mark where you want to cut the shirt.

Cold shoulder t-shirt

Then cut it along the curve. 

DIY cold shoulder shirt

Cut it as close as possible to the collar in the front, then turn it over to cut to the collar in the back. I ended up cutting it a touch too far on one side, but don’t worry about it, you can just cut a bit more and act as if that’s what you meant to do all along!

DIY asymmetrical shirt

To add to the asymmetry of the shirt, cut the hem of the sleeve on the opposite side of the cut-out you just made to about two inches from the edge, leaving it hanging on.

How to make a cold shoulder shirt


DIY half-and-half shirt
Be original


Now it’s time to completely rethink the humble t-shirt. This project involves turning two t-shirts into one! Take two t-shirts and mark the centerline. Then decide which side of the shirt you want to use in this project. Add an extra inch of fabric from the centerline. This will account for your seam allowance when you sew the two pieces together. Then cut the other shirt as well but don’t add a seam allowance, I’ll show you why in a second.

How to make a half-and-half shirt

Lay the side with the seam allowance so that the front of the shirt slightly overlaps that front of the other shirt. Then either pin and sew, or use washable fabric glue to glue the pieces together on the front and the back. Place something heavy on top and let it dry. As you can see, I left a bit of a v-neck at the top of the shirt. I feel like that adds some more visual interest as well.

T-shirt upcycle idea

I also didn’t sew mine all the way to the bottom of the shirt because I am absolutely in love with the half-tuck, and this half-and-half shirt is perfect for that! 

DIY t-shirt upcycle ideas

I hope that now you feel more confident about cutting up your own clothing. You can customize so many pieces of clothing without threading a single needle! What’s been holding you back from upcycling and upstyling your clothing? Let me know in the comments below!

Suggested materials:
  • T-shirt
  • Fabric scissors
  • Ruler
See all materials

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