Cut It Out!

A month or so ago, Scissors and I went window shopping at Urban Outfitters. (For those new to my blog, "Scissors" is my 15 year old daughter who loves to cut up all of our old clothes and turn them into new clothes). We love their funky, outside of the box kinda clothing. The problem is that it seems like their cutest things are almost always immodest, so we rarely shop there. We just look, get ideas and then go home to recreate them in a more modest version.

Well, on that particular hunting trip we came across an adorable embellishment idea, but it was spread across a tank so tiny that you could see the girls (not my girls..."the" girls) and all their neighbors!!

So, I took about an hour tonight and turned a plain T into something

not quite so plain and definitely unique.
First I cut the neck band off which took it from sporty
to something a little more feminine. The great thing about
knit fabric is that it doesn't fray. For this particular look you don't
need to re-enforce it or hem it, just cut away. The original shirt
also had raw edges.

Taking a cue from my girls, who always cut a V into their t-shirt
necks, I too cut a little notch in the middle of the neckline.


Next I ironed "Wonder Under" on the back side of a large rectangle of cotton. I didn't measure, but you will get the whole size idea in the coming pictures.


Lay the cotton on top of your t-shirt and cut a rough pattern of the neckline. You don't have to be precise at all because in just one minute you are going to cut the heck out of it and you can fiddle with it throughout the process to get it right where you want it to be.

pardon the fuzzy picture, I'm still kind of shaky from the flu.

Now the fun part begins. Cut a random, uneven shape all around the outer edge, then cut little holes out of the center as shown below.

fuzzy again, sorry!

I took it up and over the shoulders as well so that it spills out a little on the back.

Next, you peel the Wonder Under off of the back side.

Position it exactly where you want it on the shirt and iron

it on. You could stop there, but I think it looks

tacky if you don't sew it on as well. So.....

Rev up the old machine and stitch along the center of the whole embellishment piece. Clip all of your threads and there you have it... a unique little T.


I think it will be cute under a Levi jacket with some silver jewelry, or with a big old fabric flower pinned to one side. I saved the neck for just this reason, but haven't gotten around to turning it into a flower. Just think of all the applications for this. You could do it all around the hem of a T or down the sleeves. You could punch it up with color, use patterned fabric as I did or go with plain fabric. The possibilities are endless. Now you go out and try it and remember what Scissors says, "don't be afraid to cut"!

Modest Is The Hottest

When my kids were little and we were visiting the mall I would always tell them I'd give a dollar to the first one who saw a modest prom dress. OK.... I confess I said this for two reasons, one: because I knew they wouldn't find one and I wouldn't be out the dollar, and two: a little brain washing never hurt anyone. If mom would offer a whole dollar for a modest dress, then modest dresses must be really cool things. Fast forward about 12 years......what do you do when you have to actually find a modest dress? In most cases, buy the immodest one and fix her up!

All it took was a little visit to the fabric store for blue silky stuff and brown tulle.

What once was a strapless dress is now something Liesl will feel comfortable wearing. All you need to do is measure over the shoulders and cut a length of fabric to fit. I cut it 6" wide and then gather each end so that it ends up 3" wide. All that's left is to hand stitch it to the inside of the bodice (back and front). EASY PEASY!

Can I just say,,,, I love her funky style!