Do you ever look at the embellished knit shirts from boutique places or stores like Anthropologie and find yourself shaking your head at the prices? Those $48 & up prices. I mean seriously, who wants to pay that for a t-shirt?! I'm constantly rolling my eyes at the mark-up for a basic tee that just has a few cute details on it. So, I decided to just go for it and do some for myself for about $10. And it's totally do-able.
You'll Need:
- Basic t-shirt
- Crochet/lace collar
- Wooden/antique style buttons
- Sewing notions: sewing machine, pins, hand sewing needle
- Optional: Tailor's dummy
I got a basic long-sleeved tee at Target for about $7:
If you crochet you can make your own collar, but if you're like me and don't, you can snag a ready made one pretty cheap. Mine is from Wholeport and cost a mere $1.99. They seem to be out of this particular one right now, but there have several other cute styles & all are bargain priced.
Start by pinning the upper and lower edges of the collar around the neckline of the shirt. It's easiest to do this using a tailor's dummy or have someone very nice wear it while you pin it (promising not to stick them with a pin of course). And unless the shirt buttons up (aka the neckline opens), I'd recommend setting the collar below the ribbing edge of the neck hole so you don't risk not being able to get your head through it once it's sewn on.
Now set the sewing machine to a mid length, mid-width zig-zag stitch (around 3, 3):
Using thread that matches the collar collar, zig-zag stitch around the edge of the entire collar. Do one collar side at a time. Remember to go slow so you don't stretch the shirt fabric (you don't want to end up with bunching or puckers).
Decide how you want to space the buttons and hand sew a small one at the center of the collar. That little pearly pink one was from a button stash of my grandma's. Then sew two larger ones below.
The ones I used are wooden ones and about the size of a quarter. I love that they already had this cute colored thread running through them in a heart shape (so cute!!). These were also from Wholeport and also nice & thrifty. For a little extra detail I stitched one near each sleeve cuff too.
Now the shirt is ready to wear. $10 folks. And just as unique & hip as the fancy places. Except with an extra gold star for being totally one of a kind and with a lot of money left in your wallet. Consider this a little Valentine's gift for treating yourself today. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!
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