Christine Jonson PatternsComment

Tee Shirt Refashion Using a Sewing Pattern

Christine Jonson PatternsComment

By Ann Siegle, Guest Contributor

Who doesn't have a dozen or more boxy men's tees in their wardrobe. We loved the event we participated in to get the tee and maybe the tee's design, but the fit, well, no figure looks good in that square, boxy shape! What can we do? Refashion it! Using the Christine Jonson Banded Neck Tee (part Travel Trio One sewing pattern), some scraps of other fabric, we can create a great mixed-media tee that will reinvigorate your closet of casual tops.

Select a favorite tee to refashion. This is a size S tee that I'm able to refashion into a size S Banded Neck Tee. I did have to shorten the pattern a smidge (by folding up the pattern on the lengthen / shorten line as you can see in our gallery of step-by-step photos below, click on an image to zoom in.)

  1. I drew the outlines of the pattern onto my tee front with chalk (kids' chalk).
  2. You'll have to trace both halves by flipping over the pattern on the center front fold line.
  3. I then cut the TOP LAYER ONLY of my tee shirt, leaving the back intact.
  4. Then, I did the same thing with the back, cutting out the back pattern piece, flipping the pattern piece at the center front fold line to trace off a full back piece.
  5. Cut out the sleeves and neck band from coordinating remnant fabric. I used fabric scraps I had from other projects.
  6. Sew the pattern according to the instructions
  7. I crafted sleeve bands by measuring the sleeve width at the hem and deciding how wide I wanted my cuff to be (one inch). My sleeve bands were 4" each (tall) x the width of the sleeve pattern at the hem. I sewed them into a tube and applied them exactly the way the banded neck is applied in the pattern instructions

This fun refashion can be done with short sleeves. You can reuse the existing tee sleeves if you use the cap sleeve pattern from either Christine Jonson's Princess Wrap and Shirred top, or the Keyhole Top or the Princess Dress. All of these feature a small cap sleeve that is perfect for reusing a standard tee shirt sleeve. If you're going to do a long sleeved tee, you'll need coordinating fabric, as I've used here.

YouTube Channel (more videos, including parts 2-4 of this tee refashion)