A different way to resize shirts!

[snowtigress]

Hi everyone.  I haven't seen any posts about the way I resize my shirts, so I thought I'd share. 
I might be what you crafty ladies (& gentlemen) would consider a lazy craftster.  I like to throw stuff together and just see what works.  Skipping steps is always awesome for me. 

These things considered, I cringe at the thought of removing sleeves from shirts when they are just fine in the first place, just oversized.  SOOOO I do not remove them when I do my shirts.  I simply shape the shirt as so that the extra width of the shirt almost becomes part of the sleeve.  But it doesn't actually look like that's what's happening when you wear it. 

So basically, I just cut off extras from the side of the shirt, and the bottom of the sleeve.





This shirt doesn't show it that well because I'm not the best at reconstructing yet, and the fact that I didn't make it very tight because I just want to wear it under t-shirts...but it does work and you can make the arms and torso slimmer in one big swipe!


Another bonus of this method is that the sleeves stay the same length!!!

Hopefully someone will find this helpful.

[nani-ka]

i'm going to have to try that... I have a couple of shirts I've been needing to re-size for myself.

Can I just draw the line & sew without cutting in case I have to pick it out & re-do it?

[pin]

That`s the way I´m doing it too (most of the time). I never shared it in any DIY forum `cause I was afraid of being called a lazy crafter.
Good to know there are more people like me.

[cupcakesorbet]

Yes that is a good idea. I'm not quite at the 'making darts without a pattern' stage of crafting yet so this would suit me fine, thanks! 

[lars the pirate]

i've done it that way before. works pretty much the same. but since i taught myself how to do sleeves and the like, i've been addicted to taking them out, resizing and putting them back in. it also helps if you want to change colors/fabrics etc.

but yeah, i like this way also. yippee!

[chicago_essie]

GOSH! There is no such thing as a "lazy crafter!"  I believe that we all have our styles and there are all different methods for doing things.  So if you find one that works...use it..PERIOD!!! I love it! I can't wait to go thrift some manly shirts

[shesxautomatic]

i used to do the same thing when i started reconstructing my clothing. however, i don't like the look of the sleeve seams being so far down, or completely off, the shoulder. that's why the sleeves have to be removed and put back on - it creates a new seam in the correct place.

but if the shirt isn't that huge to begin with, you can go the "lazy craftster" (ha!) route.

[tamagotchi]

I almost always do this...but I think it only works well if your chest is pretty flat to begin with (like mine).  if you're super curvy I think you might have problems getting a good fit around the chest area.

[shadowstealer]

Yay there are other Lazy Crafters! I did this a few hours ago with my favorite green and black shirt and now my sleves are back to being the right length! Woot!

[snowtigress]

Nani-ka: You can definitely just mark it instead of cutting before sewing. In fact, that's what I usualy do.  I guess I should have mentioned that as an option. 

And again, yay for laziness! 

I usually need the extra length in the sleeves, so doing it this way helps keep the length.  Shesxautomatic was right though that it could make the sleves a little (or even a lot) off the shoulder.