DIY Cute Men's T-Shirt Refashion

Today,  I decided I would finally make something for myself instead of for the kids. It's so much more fun to create things for them because their clothes are so darn cute, but mama needed a new mommy-on-the-go dress. Something comfy, casual, and colorful: my personal 3 C's of style. I'm a stripes and polka dots fanatic so when I saw this soft, stretchy men's shirt at an Old Navy outlet store, I had to buy it! They were on sale at buy one, get one free and the price for one was only $9.94- making the shirt's cost less then $5. I did my math right there, hopefully. =/

Sorry for the dirty mirror. There actually aren't any spots on the shirt- just a mirror that gets licked and fingerprinted by my 1-year old a little too often. I bought an XXL shirt just in case and it was more than enough for my refashion.

This is the first stage after I cut the shirt at the top of my waistline, reattached the bottom half, and sewed the sleeves to be more fitted to my arms. I didn't shorten the sleeves as I knew I wanted them to go half way down so I can wear it into the fall without a cardigan. Wouldn't this be cute with a scarf, leggings and boots??? (It's still technically winter here where I live so I can definitely wear it that way now! Idk if I'm happy or sad about that...)

I sewed nine red squares for texture and style. Those came from a red knit fabric I thrifted for around $2 and I have more than enough still to make two shirts for my boys! Sqqueeal! I loooove finding great deals on nice fabric- I admit I am a hoarder (of fabric only, I swear!) and am addicted to thrifting. 

I thought the squares looked a bit weird floating on my bust so I anchored them with strips of red bias tape at the waist and up the sides. I love the effect of these little details!

The dress looks gray in the pictures but it's actually a smoky blue. I think red and blue are so fabulous together and perfect for summer!

A close up of the details on the front. So simple but effective.

This dress fits the bill: comfy, check; casual, check; cute- definitely! I'll be wearing this every other day over the summer. Oooor, I'll just go buy more shirts to make more. I think six more would be great! One for each day of the week! An excuse to go thrifting- YESSS! 

How would you refashion a big men's tee? I need some ideas now that I'm going to make six more! =)

DIY Refashion: Men's Tee into Peplum Tee

Now that I'm a stay at home mom, I don't quite have the clothes shopping budget that I used to have and take for granted. It's been quite the adjustment, believe me! I looooove clothes (what normal woman doesn't?) but I also like having food on the table and bills being paid on time so clothes shopping has been completely wiped off my list of to-do's.

With the long dreary winter and my new role at home, I just didn't feel the need to update my wardrobe. I live in my jammies most days anyway. The only times I needed to really "dress up" was when I went to the grocery store but sometimes, I didn't even bother matching my outfit because my long wool coat covered me from shoulders to knees. All anyone saw if they deigned to look at me were my pants and boots. And yes, I'm ashamed to admit- sometimes I even wore the jammie pants out if it was just a quick run I had to make. I used to balk at women who did that before. Now, sadly, I'm one of them!

Now that I can smell spring coming, I'm determined to clean myself up and present myself in public with some dignity since I can't wear that long coat anymore without drawing more attention than I need! So what's  a broke mama to do? Why- refashion my old stuff or cheap stuff I find at thrift stores of course! I enjoy sewing and I've made a few modest things here and there. Later, I'll share the dresses I refashioned for my daughter. Yes, sadly, I will not be buying her a ton of dresses every spring like I used to. She'll get a new one or two, but most will be made using her old ones.

Before: a too large t-shirt.

Anyway, back to MY refashion! I'm really loving those peplum tops I've been seeing just about EVERYWHERE but I needed something more casual for everyday wear that would still look cool and fashion forward. I saw a peplum tee refashion somewhere on Pinterest and knew I'd found what I was looking for. So while I was grocery shopping at Walmart yesterday, I passed through the men's section and saw that they had a couple $5 clearance racks. I browsed through and found this awesome Beatles Yellow Submarine black tee shirt in a size large. Bingo!

A few pins here and there, some cutting, some sewing back together and voila: a cute peplum tee in my size! I love it and am looking forward to making a few more for myself and my daughter. They look great with colored skinny jeans and flats: my usual spring go-to outfit.

After: a fitted, flared, and  fashion-forward top.

And I must apologize for my dusty mirror in the "after" shot. You can tell I haven't used it all winter long, lol! It's amazing what you can do with a big tee shirt, isn't it? I'm off to make a few more refashions in different styles! Hope this inspires all you stay at home moms to start vamping up your spring wardrobes on the cheap! I'm going to really enjoy doing mine and I'll share some more of my refashions as I create them, including the stuff I made for my little girl! Happy spring sewing!