Contrast color sleeves

DIY Colour block T-Shirts

If you are looking for a DIY project that will bring the colour blocking trend into your wardrobe then you have found one. The hardest part of this project, is unpicking the sleeves of the T-Shirts. You also need a sewing machine to sew the sleeves back on.

Unpicking the sleeves

Most cotton knit garments are sewn with a machine that cuts, sews and over locks in one go. If you can figure out the direction the machinist was sewing you can usually find a thread and the unpicking is fairly easy. It’s just not always easy to figure that out, in which case the unpicking takes a bit longer.



Removing and swapping sleeves

However, with a tiny bit of patience and a quick unpick, you can remove the sleeves of two T-shirts in around an hour. One absolute prerequisite for this DIY is your T-shirts must be the same or very similar in weight and size or you could end up with sleeves that don’t fit properly or the whole T-shirt doesn’t fit and hang well.

One other really important thing to get right, is to make sure you sew the left sleeve on to the left side, or your T-shirt will not fit right. Sleeves may look the same, but they are not.

You need: –
2 x same or similar weight, size and style T-shirts
a quick unpick
pins
sewing machine

Pin and sew sleeves

To make: –
1. Settle down with a nice cup of tea and good lighting to unpick the seams that bind the sleeves of your T-shirt. I removed the left sleeve on both T-shirts and kept the right sleeve still attached with a few threads to make sure I didn’t mix them up.

2. Turn the T-shirt inside out. Make sure the seams are facing the right way and pin the opposite colour sleeve in place.

3. Check the fabric doesn’t bunch or pucker. Turn the T-shirt back right way out and fit it on to make sure your seams are correct and there is no bunching. It can be a prickly with pins, so take care, but you have to always check before you sew.

4. When you are happy with the fit of the sleeves, sew your sleeves back on.
And that’s it. You’re done.

Visit the Greenie Galleries at the top of this page for inspiration to upcycle and recycle your wardrobe. And you can share you DIY designs or “like” Greenie Dresses for Less on facebook.

Am back next week.

Greenie.