Three EASY Ways To Upcycle A Basic Tee (No Sewing Machine Required)

Ms. Melior
by Ms. Melior
5 Materials
$10
10 Minutes
Easy

Keeping our clothes out of landfills is one of the most environmentally responsible things we can do... and a fun way to do this is to give your clothes a whole new life by reworking them!


Sometimes a simple tee just needs a little D.I.Y. T.L.C

(went a bit crazy on the acronyms there, but I think you get what I mean! L.O.L icon icon )


So, here are three easy ways to upcycle an old t-shirt WITHOUT a sewing machine.


Crop It


Now you could just cut the bottom of and call it a day...


but here is an easy way to make your new crop-top look store bought!

  1. Cut the bottom of the t-shirt off 5 cm longer than you'd actually like it
  2. Flip the t-shirt inside out and fold the bottom edges up
  3. Pin the edges in place so that the width of the fold is even all the way around
  4. Iron the fold to help keep it in place with you sew
  5. With a simple needle and thread, use a backstitch to hand sew the edge down ALMOST completely. Make the stitch at the top of the fold so that there is room for an elastic band.

6. Leave a small gap to thread your elastic through (the elastic should be the length of the circumference of your waist)

7. Using safety pins, anchor one end of the elastic band onto the t-shirt and thread the other end of the elastic through the tunnel we created in the previous steps

8. Sew the ends of the elastic band together and tuck into the fold of the t-shirt

9. Finish up that backstitch to completely close the tunnel we've created at the bottom of the shirt


And ta-da! You have a super cute cinched tee.

Fabric Paint


I love working with fabric dyes and paints to spruce up an item.


Not an artist? No worries... neither am I!

  1. Print and cut out an image from the internet. The more simple the image, the easier this upcycle will be. I used a line art drawing of a woman's face and a small rose
  2. Place the stencil onto the t-shirt and use a sharpie to trace the image (I used small dots)
  3. Connect the dots we drew using the fabric paint pen
  4. You could be finished at this step, but I decided to add some color with lettering and filling in gaps... get creative with this step!
  5. Finally, follow the instructions on your fabric paint to ensure it stay on the shirt. Mine called for a wash in the washing machine on high temperatures after the paint air-dried.
Shoulder Pads


These upcycle ideas keep getting simpler and simpler, but who doesn't like easy?!


This rework is my absolute favourite because it's fast and affordable, but ends up looking super editorial and high-fashion.



  1. I simply cut the sleeves of the t-shirt off and
  2. handsewed (using the backstitch again) some shoulder pads underneath the shoulders.
  3. Fold in the cut you made and backstitch all around the arm hole for a clean finish.


And there you have it!


I hope you enjoyed these simple reworks, but if you want EVEN MORE ways to upcycle your clothes, check out this video:

Love,

Ms. Melior

Suggested materials:
  • Needle & Thread
  • Elastic Band
  • Scissors
See all materials

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