T Shirt Transformations

Learn how to make 2 T-shirt transformations, no sewing required! This Upcycling clothes DIY tutorial will show you making Summer tops from long sleeves is easier than you think! This tutorial will show you how to make a cold shoulder top with bow sleeves and a braided sleeve top. Revamping my closet has never been more fun!

How to create a braided sleeve top:

1. Make a rope for weaving by cutting off the bottom seam of your shirt and stretching it into a rope. You can also do this with a scrap piece of fabric.
2. Next, fold the shirt in half.
3. Cut off both of the sleeves together to ensure they are cut at the same length. Instead of doing a short sleeve, I'm going to a three-quarter sleeve because I think it'll look cuter and the braid might bring it up a tiny bit. Save the sleeve scraps because you can use them on other projects. Always save your scraps!
4. Now let's make the cuts for where we're going to weave the braid in. You want them to be very tiny, so pinch the fabric as small as you can, and make the cut. We're going to do both sleeves at once so when you pinch the fabric make sure you're grabbing both layers of it. Start your cuts one finger width in from the side of the shirt sleeve and two fingers up from the bottom edge you cut off. It's just a tiny little cut and then two fingers apart, another one. All the way across the sleeves.
   
5. Now, when we unfold the shirt, we have matching snips on both sides. Grab one of these sleeves and start weaving with the rope you made.
   
6. To start the weave, we're going to leave a little extra rope on the end and then starting inside the shirt we'll push it through to the outside of the shirt. We're going to do another loop in the same way. Compare to make sure it's about the same length as the other loop. We're going to take this loop and put it through our previous loop. You can see how it's starting to make a little chain or braid. Grab the next loop, make it about the same size, and pull it through from the inside to the outside. Then, pull through the previous loop and make one more loop. Put it through the last hole and put that loop through the previous loop. Now we're going to repeat this process all the way around the sleeve until we meet up with our first loop. Put your last loop through the same loop you started with, and then tie it on the backside with a square knot.
7. It's cute if you pull the rope a little bit tighter... it will make this little ruffle on the end of your sleeve. All done!

If you'd like to make the braided neckline to match your braided sleeves, check out this video!

How to create a cold shoulder top with bow sleeves:

1. The first step is to measure three inches down from the top of the shoulder, along the arm seam. Mark with your chalk.
2. Next, you want to measure two inches away from the sleeve seam, and mark it. Do this on both sides of the seam. Now, connect the lines to make a nice swoopy circle. I made mine a little bigger, to show off more shoulder.
   
3. Now that's drawn, let's fold the shirt in half so that we'll cut through both sides and they will end up the same. Make sure you line up all your seams.
4. Cut out the half circles along your chalk mark. Now unfold it, and we've got two matching cold shoulders.
5. Since it's summertime, let's cut off the sleeves and do a little bow sleeve.
6. To cut the short sleeves we're going to fold in half again. Cut both of the sleeves off at the same time.
7. Take one of the extra pieces that you cut out of the shoulder and cut the seam right off of it.
8. Fold it in half and then take your fabric glue or hot glue and glue the pieces together so that you have a nice thick band. Wait for the glue to dry and then use this piece to tie up your bow.
   
9. Fold your shirt so that you can see the shoulder seam. Then, gather it up like a fan. Take your extra piece of fabric and wrap it around. Put a dab of glue to keep it in place. Hold it until your glue dries and then see what a cute bow you have! Now we're going to do the same to the other side. 
   

And there we go! Now we have a cold shoulder top with bows, and a braided short sleeve shirt. No more long sleeves on this gal for Summer! I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial on two different ways to revamp your long sleeves. 

For more cool projects, download my free DIY T-Shirt Hacks Ebook