T-shirt yoga pants

There are not many things more comfy than a worn t-shirt.  So, how about a pair of comfy yoga pants made out of a comfy t-shirt?  Sounds pretty awesome right?  Let me tell you it is pretty awesome, really comfy and super easy to do.

This is not my creation and the credit goes to my friend Carol Ann (I'n not sure where she got it from).  That said, I am sure I do many things different than she showed me/I remember.  This is just the basic idea, you can do with it what-ever you want with it.

There are 2 different ways to do this, so I'll give a few options for you.   I'll try to make this as painless as possible, so there are lots of pictures.  :)

Here are your supplies:
- a t-shirt (preferably one 2 sizes larger than the wearer wears in a shirt.  My daughter wears a size 5, so I need to use a size 7.  I think this shirt was a little smaller than that, but there is wiggle room)
 - scissors or a rotary cutter (just something to cut with)
 - sewing machine or serger (I used a serger, but a sewing machine would work great too)

 1.  Cut the sleeves off of the shirt.  Cut about 1/2" from the seam leaving the seam itself on the sleeve.

 See no sleeves.  DON'T throw them away.  You will need them later.  

 2.  Cut the neck hole out.  I lined my ruler up with the edge of the neck ribbing and cut strait across.  You could easily do this with scissors too.  Toss the neck hole.

 3.  Measure the bottom of the t-shirt and find the halfway point.  Then cut the shirt in half, strait up the middle.

 How are these going to be pants you ask?

 Put the two arm holes together... does that help?  Can you see it coming together now?

 4.  Take the sleeve and cut a strait line up from the bottom of the armpit up.

 5.  Do you see how the sleeve has a slight slant to it?  I am going to cut that part off too.  I just lined my ruler up with the farthest edge and squared it up.  (Carol Ann just cut the seam out and left the slant, I found it easier to square everything up.  Your call)

 There it is.  1/2 the waist band.  I took this part and made sure it would stretch around my little K.  It fit fantastic.  (hello little baby toes)

6.  Sew the long cut/side seams (the outside leg seams).  

 7.  Turn one of the legs RIGHT-SIDE out and put it inside the other leg matching up the side seams.  (So the legs are RIGHT-SIDES together with one inside the other...clear as mud?  Hello little man,  I'll be with you in a minute.)

 8.  Pin and stitch the U shape.  That will be the crotch seam.

 It looks strange, but works fantastic.  

 Pull the leg out and presto, pants.  

 9.  Take the sleeves (or waist band) and sew them end to end right-sides together.

 See the tube.  

 10.  Okay, this part seems a bit strange, but pin the waist band WRONG-SIDE out to the pants WRONG-SIDE out.  (Usually you sew things right sides together).  The waist band might be smaller than the pants.  Pin the waistband in quarters equally around the pants.  Stretch the waistband slightly to the same length of the pants as you stitch.

(As a side note, I think I might try to sew it with the pants RIGHT-SIDE out next time so the seam is on the inside.  It pokes out every once and awhile.  That said, it all works)

 Turn the pants right side out and gasp... looks like you did it wrong but you didn't :)

 Fold the top down.  Ahhhh, much better.  

11.  Try on cute pants.  My little girl wanted to keeps hers on all day they were so comfy.   

WHEW!  You made it.... Ready for the variation?


This time take a shirt with a fun logo or something on it that you don't want to cut in half.

 Same as before, cut off sleeves and neck.  Square up the sleeves and cut into waist bands (same as the one above)  The difference?

Instead of cutting up the middle of the shirt, cut the shirt up both sides.  Leaving a front and back to the shirt.  

 Fold the shirt front/back in 1/2.  See looks like the other one.

 This time I matched the two shirts RIGHT-SIDES together, matching up the arm holes (crotch seams).  Sew the large U shape.  DO THIS 2 TIMES, for front and back.  (Another way to look at this is you are turning the shirt inside out and sewing the arm holes, and only the arm holes, shut.)

 It will look pretty strange if you have never sewn pants before.  Just line up the inside of the crotch seams.  There's the pants!

 Now pin and sew up the inseam of the pants.

 TADA!  Pants.  Now just add the waist band in (see steps 9 & 10 above).  You could also fold the waist band in half before you sew it, and make a casing to put elastic in.  I like the elastic free option.  It doesn't bunch or twist, and I seem to run out of elastic all the time....

This is a fun look for things like sports t-shirts, super-hero t's or any other pattern you want to wear on the side of your legg :)

 There you have it.  Hope it was clear.  This really is an easy pattern.  If you are nervous, just grab an old t-shirt and go for it.  What have you got to loose?  Let me know if you have any questions

Happy Crafting!

Shrinking Silhouettes

I've noticed that those cute silhouettes we made in grade school seem to be everywhere in home decor. Cute little cut out heads on walls, pillows and all kids of stuff. I love the idea and was trying to come up with a fun way to wear my favorite little silhouettes. Here is what I came up with. Cute right? Want one? They are super easy and extra cheap. Mine was made from things I had laying around the house.

Supplies:

plastic container with recycle #6 on it

sharpie or other permanent marker

nail file (or fine sand paper)

picture to trace

9 or so jump rings

beads and head-pins (I used broken or mismatched earrings, already done so no extra work)

necklace or cord (Oooo ribbon would be pretty too)

That's right folks, it's a pre-made pie crust. You get to eat the pie you make, just save that plastic lid. You can use any plastic contaner you find as long as it has the recycle #6 stamp on it (you know the little triangle arrows with a 6 in the middle). So, this part of the project is FREE! Just use something that was going in the garbage.
Next I took pictures of my kids profiles and printed it out a contact sheet so they were nice and small. I then cut my pie lid up into square that would fit the pictures. My squares were about 1 1/2". File the surface a bit to give it "tooth", it will help the ink stick better. Next trace the sweet little silhouettes with a permanent marker, then completely fill in the head space. Then punch a hole in the top with a standard hole punch (So make sure you leave enough room at the top). I rounded the corners on mine too, just to get rid of anything sharp that might be by Bubby's face.
Pretty easy right? I actually redid D's picture, the lips turned out funky the first time. The awesome thing is there was more plastic to use so no big deal. Now the super cool part. Put the cut plastic on a foil lined baking sheet (shinny side up) and bake it at 350 for 3-4 min. Don't panic when you peek in and the plastic is all curled up and distorted, it will flatten out. In fact, that is how you know it is done, take it out when all the pieces are nice and flat. Let it cool for a second, and you have cute little charms.

Now you can assemble the necklace. I put a jump ring through each charm. Then I used old broken earrings (Never throw out your broken or incomplete jewlery sets. I find so many uses for one old earring), and other random beads to make some pretty danglies. To construct the necklace I used 8 jump rings. One on each, charm, one on each danglie. I then connected all the charms and danglies together using the remaining jump rings. I tried to form a small chain with mine so the charms would hand down.
Now put it on a chain (you know you have some unused necklaces hanging out in your jewelry box just needing to be used). Put on a cute t-shirt and admire your handy work.

(I think it it funny that Bubby has an Alfred Hitchcock profile, and K's little pony tail is so sweet.)