Make Old Clothes New

Wearing the same clothes every year can be boring and predictable, but buying new clothes is sometimes not affordable. You can spice up your wardrobe by upcycling your clothes and making your old clothes new. When you make your old clothes new, you end up with a one of a kind piece that is unique to you. Turn an old t-shirt into a dress, make a pair of cut-offs, or add fringe to an existing shirt to give yourself new stylish options to wear.

Steps

Fixing Old Clothes

  1. Attach a new button. If you have a have a shirt that’s lost a button, you don’t need to discard it. You can sew on a matching button to make the shirt new again. You’ll need a matching button, a needle, thread, and scissors.[1]
    • Double thread the needle and knot the end.
    • Bring the needle up through the wrong side of the fabric and one hole of the button.
    • Bring the needle back down through an opposite hole, and repeat this process of going up through one hole and down through an opposite hole six times with the same two holes.
    • Do the same thing with the other two holes that you haven’t used yet. You will end up with the thread making an equals sign on your button.
    • Tie a secure knot in the thread by passing the needle through the stitches on the wrong side of the fabric stopping short to create a loop. Then pass the needle through the loop and pull tightly to create a knot. Repeat this twice to make a secure knot.
  2. Update your jeans. You can update an old pair of jeans by dying them with RIT dye and gaining a fresh new pair of dark denim jeans. All you need is a 5 gallon bucket, navy RIT dye, gloves, a stirrer, and a pair of old jeans.[2]
    • Mix the dye with boiling water in a 5 gallon bucket. Follow the directions for the dye to find out the ratio of water to dye powder. Make sure you wear gloves while dying your jeans.
    • Put the jeans into the dye, and stir them around with the stirrer.
    • After about 5 minutes of stirring, pull the jeans out and wring out the excess dye.
    • Rinse the jeans in a sink or bathtub until the water runs clear.
    • Lay the jeans out flat to dry, or put them in a dryer.
  3. Resize an old sweater. Sweaters often stretch out as they age and end up looking old. You can fix an old, stretched out sweater by resizing it to fit you again.[3]
    • Put on the sweater inside out and pin it where you want to resize it. Pinch the sleeves and pin them to know where to sew. Pin down either side of the sweater to make the sweater smaller.
    • Carefully take the sweater off and lay it flat to make sure all the pins are straight.
    • Use a sewing machine or hand sew the sweater in a line where the pins are.
    • Cut the excess fabric after sewing it.
    • Turn the sweater right side out and wear your new fitting sweater.

Upcycling Old Clothes

  1. Make a dress from a t-shirt. You can make a fun strapless dress from an oversized t-shirt. The shirt should be large enough to come down to your knees.[4]
    • Cut the sleeves of the shirt off, and then cut the seam of the sleeves to open them up into a long piece of fabric. Lay the sleeves flat on a table and cut two identical rectangles out of the sleeves without cutting the finished hem of the sleeves. These will be the top of the dress.
    • Cut a straight line across the top of the shirt just under the neck line. Discard the neckline of the shirt that you cut off.
    • Cut the large portion of the shirt that’s left up the sides to create two identical large rectangles of fabric. These will be the body of the dress.
    • Use a sewing machine to sew the smaller rectangles of fabric to the bottom larger body pieces of fabric. You should end up with two dress pieces, the front and the back. Make sure you sew the wrong sides of the fabric together.
    • Sew the front of the dress to the back of the dress, by sewing the sides together. Then, sew elastic for under the bust of the dress. Sew the elastic onto the dress right where the top piece meets the body piece. Stretch the elastic as you sew it.
    • Cut any excess fabric beyond where you sewed on the top or sides. Then, turn the dress right side out.
  2. Make cut-offs. You can cut old jeans to create cute cut-off shorts. This is a great project to do with jeans that look new on the top but have stains or fraying on the bottom.[5]
    • Turn the jeans inside out to mark the jeans where you’ll cut them. Start at the waistband and use a tape measure to measure down one leg. Make a mark where you want to cut the jeans. Do the same on the opposite leg, making sure the marks are at the exact same length.
    • Keep the jeans inside out and use fabric scissors to cut the jeans where you made your marks. Starting at the side of one leg, cut straight across until you’ve cut off the bottom part of the leg.
    • Embellish your new cut-offs with by adding jewels or buttons to give your cut-offs a special touch, or you can use a bleach pen to draw shapes or lines on the jeans.[6]
  3. Add fringe to old shirts. You can spice up an old shirt by adding fringe to the bottom to create a stylish boho look. Use a shirt that fits well and is long enough to cut fringe from the bottom.[7]
    • Lay the shirt out flat and starting in the armpit of the shirt, measure where the fringe should start and make a mark on the shirt. Make a mark on the other side of the shirt as well and draw a straight line from one mark to the other.
    • Using the bottom hem of the shirt as a guide for the ruler, make marks at the bottom of the shirt at ½ inch intervals across the shirt. Use the ruler to draw a straight line up the shirt from the bottom to the horizontal line you already made at each ½ inch mark. These are the lines you will cut on to create the fringe.
    • Use fabric scissors to cut up each line you’ve drawn, stopping once you reach the top horizontal line drawn. This should create fringe on the bottom part of your shirt that are ½ inch in width. Stretch out each strand of fringe after you cut it to make it hang better.[8]
    • You can add a unique touch to your new fringed shirt by adding embellishments to it. String beads on the fringe and secure them with a knot for a cool boho look, or tie every other piece of fringe together to create a netted look.
  4. Add lace inserts to a shirt that’s too small. You can make a small shirt new by adding lace inserts to the sides of the shirt. The lace will make a shirt that’s too small be able to fit again.[9]
    • Cut the shirt up the seams on both sides. Cut the bands of the sleeves as well.
    • Cut two pieces of lace that’s about four inches wide and the length of your shirt side.
    • Turn the shirt inside out and sew the lace onto both sides of the shirt to join the sides of the shirt back together again.
  5. Create a scarf from old t-shirts. Gather eight to ten old graphic tees to upcycle into a fun, unique scarf. This is a great thing to do with your old school and sports shirts.[10]
    • Cut rectangles from the shirts that are eight inches wide and ten inches tall. Try to cut the rectangle to include the design on the shirt.
    • Take two rectangles and pin them right sides together on one short end.
    • Sew a line where you’ve pinned the rectangles.
    • Pin another rectangle onto one short end of the two you’ve sewn to add another rectangle.
    • Sew the third rectangle on.
    • Repeat these steps until you have the scarf the length you want.

Tips

  • Check your measurements twice before cutting to make sure you end up with the right size.
  • Make your new clothes unique to you. There’s many different ways to give your new piece that special touch.
  • If you mess up, it’s okay because you’re using old clothes. Find another article of clothing to try to upcycle.
  • Thrift stores and garage sales are a great place to buy inexpensive old clothes to make new.

Things You’ll Need

  • Large T-shirt, old jeans, or shirt
  • Fabric scissors
  • Pins
  • Sewing machine or needle and thread
  • Ruler or tape measure
  • Optional embellishments like beads, jewels, bleach pen, or fabric dye.
  • Button
  • RIT dye

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/clothing-care/sew-button
  2. ↑ http://centsationalgirl.com/2011/04/a-cheap-dye-job/
  3. ↑ http://www.tlc.com/tlcme/10-ways-to-make-your-old-clothes-new-again/
  4. ↑ http://allforfashiondesign.com/how-to-make-a-beautiful-dress-from-simple-blouse/
  5. ↑ http://www.refinery29.com/how-to-make-cut-off-shorts
  6. ↑ http://www.upcyclingclothing.com/diy-fashion-blog
  7. ↑ http://cheapchicobsession.com/2011/05/diy-fringe-t-shirt/
  8. ↑ http://www.mrkate.com/2013/07/10/diy-fringe-shirt/
  9. ↑ http://www.gina-michele.com/2014/07/diy-lace-insert-t-shirt.html
  10. ↑ http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/t-shirt-scarf-10
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