Harlequin Tee Shirts

I picked up two tee shirts at a yard sale recently. They were great quality, but waaaaay too large for me. The shirts were exactly the same brand and size, but one was white and one was black. I decided to experiment by combining them into two new creations.

I started but slicing them down the vertical center line with a ruler and rotary cutter. 

For the simpler of the two projects, I simply placed WRONG sides of the raw edges together and sewed them with about an inch seam allowance. The large seam allowance made the finished shirt a smaller size. Because I was sewing two different colors together, I had white thread in the bobbin, and black thread on the top of the machine.  I sewed the back and the front of the shirt the same way. Sewing wrong sides together will leave a raw edge exposed. If you don't like the exposed raw edge, you can sew these together right side to right side and the seam will be on the inside.

For a second, more complicated variation, I measured six inches in from the cut edge of the front of the t-shirt and marked a line 6 inches down the length of the shirt.

I then cut strips about 2 inches wide to the marked line.

After repeating with the black side, I stitched the backs of the shirts together. Then I wove the strips on the front together, twisting each strip before pinning it down.  I ran a single line of stitching down the center of each strip. Here is a photo of the inside to show the stitching pattern:

You can see that when I tried it on, twisting the strips left some gaps, and the two topmost neckline strips didn't want to play nice.

So I carefully ran a line of stitching down the center of the woven section, making sure that the strips overlapped each other to close the gaps. I carefully cut along the neckline with scissors to reshape it.

Ta da! Two new funky t-shirts that fit!