Childs’ Raglan Tee From Two Recycled Thrift Store Tees

One might wonder why I don’t pop into Walmart to buy $3 tee-shirts for any of my kids. Here’s why. I could spend $3 at Walmart and support a corporate conglomerate — or — I could buy two thrift store men’s tee-shirts for about $2 each, knowing that our money stays right here in our community. We are also keeping used clothing out of the landfill. As far as the amount of time I spend, well, I spend about a half hour making each tee-shirt — and that is a half hour I don’t have to spend driving or shopping in a store that gives me a headache.

Here’s how I turn those 2 recycled tee-shirts into a raglan sleeve tee-shirt for one of my children. I do not know how well this would work for a larger child. You would have to play around with it to see if you could get the pattern pieces to fit on the cut apart tee-shirts.

In addition, you could also use thrift store cotton knit sheets for these shirts. Other shirt projects I’ve done with recycled men’s tee-shirts and/or knit sheets: Women’s Tank Top and Girls’ Layered Look Tee-Shirts.

Needed Supplies

• 2 men’s thrift store tee-shirts, size large or larger, preferably without screenprinting or pockets (although you can work around those), long- or short-sleeve
• An old tee-shirt that fits the child (to make a pattern) or a pattern that is ready to go
• Serger or sewing machine (see Threads’ Not Your Ordinary T-Shirt for technique, if using the latter)
  

Serger settings:

• 3-thread overlock (wide)
• Stitch length between 4 and 5
• Differential set higher than 1.0 if fabric will stretch out (test on a scrap)
• Organ machine needles (light ball point which is ideal for sewing knits)
• Stretchy thread for the upper and lower loopers, such as Wooly Poly (wooly nylon may melt if dried in the dryer)
• All purpose thread for the left needle
• Upper and lower looper tensions loosened to make a balanced stitch, accomodating for the stretchy thread (test on a scrap of knit and refer to your manual for the proper balancing)

1. Make the pattern. Cut apart the old tee-shirt at the side seams and arm/shoulder seams. Mark which shoulder seam on the arm piece goes with the front and which with the back (this will save a headache later).

Fold the front in half symmetrically, lay out on paper and trace. True up the lines and add 1/4″ seam allowance to the side seams, neckline and shoulder seams. Add 1″ seam allowance to the hem. Mark it as “Front” and “Cut 1 on Fold.” Along the edge where the fabric is folded, mark the pattern as “Fold.” Repeat for the back, marking it as “Back” and “Cut 1 on Fold.” Trace one of the arm pieces, but do not fold it in half. Add 1/4″ seam allowance to the shoulder seams, side seams and neckline. Add 1″ seam allowance to the arm hem. Mark which curve belongs to the front and which belongs to the back. Mark the pattern piece as “Arm” and “Cut 2.” Cut all the pieces out. It is also helpful to label each pattern piece with the child’s name and the date.

2. Cut apart thrift store tee-shirts. Cut at shoulder seams. Cut out each arm and the side seam of each arm (you will not need the arm pieces). Cut one side side seam of each shirt. The picture shows one tee-shirt cut apart. To complete the raglan sleeve tee, you will need to cut apart two men’s tee-shirts.

3. Cut out pattern. You will have to be a bit creative here to get the best layout. If there is a pocket, seam rip it out carefully. If there is some screenprinting, think about where you want it on the shirt. For instance, with the following shirt I made for Mikah (different than the one pictured in progress so far), I put a little bit of screenprinting at the top of the back. It isn’t quite centered, but it didn’t turn out too badly (plus, it gives the shirt character).

Once you have the quirks figured out, start working with the recycled tee-shirt that is to become the Front and Back of the new shirt. Fold in one side of the main shirt piece. Lay the front pattern piece along the fold where it is marked “Fold.” Try to align bottom edge of the pattern piece (the hem) with the hem of the cut apart tee-shirt, which will save you from having to hem the shirt at all. Isn’t that nifty? If you want the shirt to be just as long as your pattern, make your pattern piece extend 1″ beyond the hem of the fabric. If you’re happy making the shirt 1″ longer, then just make the edge of the pattern piece and the fabric flush. Keep in mind that whatever you do for the Front, you have to do for the Back. Cut out the Front, then cut out the back by folding in the other side of the main body piece and aligning it similarly. The photo below shows the Front pattern piece aligned on the fabric before cutting.

On the recycled tee-shirt that is to become the Arm pieces and binding of the new tee-shirt, first fold in the main body piece to cut out the arms. You will need to cut two of these. Line up the hem of the pattern piece with the hem of the shirt, once again saving yourself time from having to hem the new tee-shirt. If you’re happy with a longer sleeve, make the bottom edges flush, otherwise extend the pattern piece 1″ past the hem of the fabric. The following photo shows the Arm pattern piece aligned on the fabric.

Before cutting out the Arms, make sure that elsewhere on that piece of fabric, you are leaving at least 20″ of continuous fabric that runs parallel to the hem, which can become the binding. The length of it can be as little as 15″ if you’re making the tee-shirt for a little child. It also has to be up to about 2″ wide, depending on the binding width you prefer.

Once satisfied that you have fabric enough for the binding, cut out the Arm pieces.

Then cut at least (1) 20″ strip for the binding. For a boy, I recommend 2″ wide and for a girl, 1″ wide. If you’re using a binder for a coverstitch machine, follow the recommended width for the particular binder which will be used. You may want to cut out a couple more binding strips, just in case. It never hurts to be prepared! We all make mistakes.

Here are all the pattern pieces cut out for one shirt.

4. Sew the Main Shirt Together. You will have to know whether you will be attaching the neckline binding using the serger, in the round; or whether by a coverstitch machine, applied flat. If the former, stitch the arms to the front and back, making 4 seams. If the latter, leave one of the shoulder seams open (preferably where one of the arms meets the back).

The following photo shows the neckline binding applied flat, using a coverstitch machine. I will assume that if you have this machine or capability, that you know how to do it. Otherwise, visit the message boards at Pattern Review and search for help there, as many people have written about it. Once the binding is applied flat, then serge closed the remaining shoulder seam (enclosing the beginning thread tail as described below).

The next photo shows the neckline applied in the round using a serger. For this technique, please visit Threads’ Not Your Ordinary T-Shirt and scroll down to Tips For a Neat, Round Neck. I prefer inserting a neck binding that is 75% of the circumference of the neckline opening. Be sure to add seam allowances to the binding for when you sew it together.

With this second method, an optional top-stitching can be applied by using a twin needle or two lines of stitching on the sewing machine to the outside of the shirt at the neckline seam, as shown in the following photo.

Once the neckline is in place, it is time to serge the side seams. Turn the shirt inside out and match the side seams, from the arm hems to the bottom hem. Line up the hems and pin them. You will definitely want to stitch carefully so as to line up the hems in the finished garment.

It is also important to hide your thread tails because this serger seam will not be crossed by the hem seams; the hems (both arm and bottom) are already done. You don’t want thread tails hanging out or coming unravelled.

As I explained in another application, to hide the beginning thread tail, match up the front and back of the garment at the side seams, wrong sides out. Slide the top of the side seam (at the arm hem) under the presser foot immediately in front of the needles. Make a few stitches manually by turning the handwheel. Stop with the needle down. Use tweezers to grab the thread tails and bring them to the front, underneath the foot and into the line of stitching. Now machine-serge the rest of the side seam, catching the thread tails in the serger stitching. After a few inches, the thread tail can be pushed under the knife and clipped off. Here is how the beginning thread tail will look when caught up in the serging this way.

To secure the ending thread tail, slow down as you approach the end of side seam. Take one stitch past the end, ending with the needle raised. Lift the presser foot, then gently pull out the garment, keeping it as close in there as you can while still able to maneuver it. Flip it upside down and re-insert it under the presser foot so that you’ll be serging on the side seam but in the opposite direction (from the bottom hem back toward the arm hem). Lower the presser foot and serge for another inch or two, slowly, taking care to keep your prior stitching out of the knife’s way. Now keep serging as you move the garment out from under the presser foot, leaving a thread tail hanging on the inside of the garment. Stop serging, cut off the thread tail while still 6″ to 8″ long. Knot it close to the seam, then clip it to 1″ or less. The following photo shows the ending thread tail secured using this technique, but before I knotted and clipped it.

(Many serger books will show how to secure thread tails both at the beginning and end of a seam.)

And here is my handsome (boy) Mikah wearing one of the two raglan sleeve tee-shirts I made for him this evening in less than an hour. (I say boy because he’s a beautiful boy and with his long hair often gets mistaken for a girl.) In fact, it took me longer to type this up and edit the photos than it did to make the two tee-shirts!

If there is anything unclear, please let me know and I will be happy to explain further. Happy recycling!

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon.