Quick T-Shirt Refashion Into a Headband

This tutorial was fun and super quick. I've had a couple of shirts that I got as gifts a few years ago and have never worn them, so instead of throwing them away, I'm refashioning them.











For this one, you need 2 strips that are 24" long and 2.5" wide. I folded my fabric in half so I only had to cut 12" strips. It made it a little bit easier to cut since I've got a small table.

Using a rounded object (I used a gigantic button) make each end of your fabric equally rounded

Pin your fabric together with the wrong sides together and sew, leaving a 1" space right in the middle of your headband. Use this space to flip your fabric right side out. Iron it so that your headband is an even width.

Since the gap in your seam lands right at the nape of your neck, you can zigzag over the hole to stitch it closed. If you don't want your stitch to show, feel free to hand stitch it closed.
















What I really like about this headband is that you can wear it with pretty much anything.

Flannel Shirt Refashion #2

Here's another shirt I had from pregnancy that I loved but it just didn't fit right without the baby bump. I found a shirt that I really liked on pinterest but I couldn't find a tutorial for it, so this is what I came up with. I really like how the shirt turned out.

I started out by disassembling the shirt. I removed the pockets, the sleeves and the collar at the seams. Then I cut straight across at the armpits to separate the top from the bottom of the shirt. Since I had to remove pockets off the front, I couldn't use that part of the shirt because you could see where both the pockets sat on the shirt. Luckily, this shirt had enough fabric in the back to make up for the ruined front. I ended up with the pieces shown on the right.

I took my front piece and drew the neckline and the arm hole lines. This is what you end up with after you cut them out

Pin the front to the back and use it as a template to get the same lines as your front. Also cut the middle strip from the back of your shirt so you have 2 even long strips.

I wanted to add lace in the sides to give it a little peek-a-boo flair to it, so I cut 2 pieces that were 2" wide and a little bit longer than my top pieces.

Pin your long strips to the bottom of your top with the right sides together. Sew and zigzag the bottom seam. You should have 2 of the picture shown to the right.




Pin the hem around the neck on the back piece and pin around all the arm pits. Sew all your seams.

Take one of the sleeves and cut a long strip about 3" wide and as long as you want your ruffle. Zigzag the top and bottom and then hem only the bottom.

Start pinning the pleat in your ruffle. Try to get them as even as possible. When you have them all pinned, run a quick straight stitch over the top of your pleats to lock them into place.

Pin your ruffle to the neckline on the front of your top and pin the hem on the inside of the straps. (The part of the strap that isn't connected to the ruffle. It might get tricky to hem super close to the ruffle but tuck as best you can)

Don't forget to zigzag over the top of the ruffle so that your neckline doesn't come unraveled.

Stitch your lace into each side of your top. I zigzagged and hemmed the top to match the hemline on the rest of the shirt. When you have both sides stitched to the lace, trim the lace to be even with the bottom of the shirt.

Pin the longest piece to the bottom of your top. Be sure to add pleats as you pin so that you don't end up with a ton of extra fabric at the back of your shirt. After you've gotten it all pinned, sew and zigzag all around.

For the straps, mine weren't long enough for the shirt to sit right, so I cut 2 strips and hemmed them to the width of my straps.

Sew and zigzag to your top. (I pinned my straps before I sewed them and put the dress on so I could adjust the fit accordingly. After you finish stitching, Iron the seam flat and then stitch in place.

I found that my straps weren't even (as you can see in the picture above) so I made some bows to cover them. I cut out 2 big strips and 2 small strips and hemmed them the same way we did with the straps. I folded the bows and sewed them up the middle to get them to keep their shape. Then I took the small strips and sewed them around the bow, making sure to cover the stitch.

I attached them to the front of each strap to cover my mistake and give a little extra girly flair.

Ta-Da! Throw a tank underneath with a pair of skinnies and you're good to go!


I'd love to see your finished projects! Send them to me at BeeBeeandJack@gmail.com!

Happy Crafting!!

Flannel Shirt Refashion Tutorial #1

A friend of mine is having a garage sale and asked if I needed to get rid of anything, so I've been cleaning out my closet and dresser. I came across a few flannel shirts that I love but they just didn't fit me anymore (I wore them when I was pregnant) and one was super manly.

I came across quite a few tutorials on pinterest but nothing that I really felt fit this shirt, so I came up with my own. I needed to take in the shirt a little and make it a lot more girly.



The first thing I did was remove the sleeves. I used a seam ripper because the sleeves were sewn funky and it was easier and cleaner to rip out the threads than cut them off. It did take quite a bit longer than cutting it but I'm happy with the outcome.

Next you need to take your measurements. I measured how wide I wanted the shoulder straps, how low I wanted the neckline, my underbust and my hips and added 2" to allow for the seam. Then I marked them on the shirt with a fabric pencil and then connected the dots to get my cut lines. I only cut on the front and then pinned the front of the shirt to the back to get even cut lines. When you've got it all cut, pin just the sides underneath the armpit down to the bottom. Be sure the right sides are together so you don't end up with your seams on the outside of your shirt.

 Next, pin the seams around your sleeves and sew them. I found it helpful to iron the seams after I had pinned them.

 I had to add another button and button hole to the top of my shirt because the neckline got cut right in between buttons. If you don't need another button, skip this step.

















I decided that the straps were boring, so I added a little embellishment to it. It scrunches up the front of each strap and gives it a more girly shape. I took a needle and tread and weaved it into one of the straps with one end hanging out each side (be sure the thread ends are on the wrong side of the shirt so they don't show) then I pulled the tread tight and tied it in a double not to create the scrunched part.





 I cut 2 strips a little longer and wider than I wanted the bands and then hemmed them. Then I attached one end of the strip to the side of strap and wrapped it over the top of the strap, covering the scrunched seam and hand-sewed the back.

 The shape of the shirt wasn't quite what I was looking for, so I covered a strip of elastic and added it to the lower of the back of the shirt so it would pull it a little tighter around my waist to give it a more girly shape.











I hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it helpful. :) I've got a couple more shirts that I'm going to cut apart and make something fabulous out of, so stay tuned!

Featured Crafter- Magnolia Blossom Crochet

Happy Tuesday (again)!

It's been exactly one week since I sat here typing about a fantastic shop, and I'm glad to be back at it. This week, we're talking with Laura from Magnolia Blossom Crochet. Her beautiful crocheted boot cuffs were on the Fall Must-Haves List, too!

Laura is a stay-at-home-mom, Army veteran, student (working on her Master's in Applied Behavioral Analysis) and crocheter. She's been crocheting since she was 11, and at the urgings of her friends and family, decided to open up shop (Laura's friends and family- if you are reading this, good call!). 

With Laura's husband away on deployment, she found she had too much free time on her hands. Creating patterns and fun, unique items is something Laura enjoys filling that time with.

Laura enjoys making colorful, useful, or lacy items the best. She likes the diversity of different items, fibers and colors, and enjoys testing the limits of creativity and usefulness with her craft. 

Side note: I enjoy limit testers. Find out where that line is, then either hang out there or step back a tad. I feel it should be noted that limit testers and rule breakers are virtually the same, except in levels of defiance. Limit testers just want to find the line to know where it is. Rule breakers want to find the line so they can crush it into oblivion. Moving along...

One of Laura's favorite creations to make are the teething bracelets. Her son was the inspiration for these, as he would not take a pacifier, but loved chewing on different textures. She shopped around, and when nothing jumped out at her, she decided to make him one. She loves seeing him use and enjoy something she made with her own hands, just for him!

When Laura is not creating amazing items for Magnolia Blossom Crochet, she loves to read or work on her hobby of nature photography. The older of her two sons really enjoys going out and exploring the world with her!

Each winter, Laura creates cute little Santa hats to donate to families in the maternity wards of military hospitals. She has also created an eagle, named Top. A portion of each eagle sale is donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. 

Laura's strange facts are fun: 1) Laura loves the look of a corset, and wears one quite frequently. She is supposed to wear a back support brace, but the corset fits the bill and looks way better! 2) She is about a third covered in tattoos. Even with that many, she gets told frequently that "she doesn't look the type to have tattoos", which is always a funny thing to say to someone. 

Who is the person that looks like they'd have tattoos? I've never once in my life heard a person say "Oh, you don't have tattoos? I thought you would. You look like the type to have tattoos."