Tutorial: Turning a womans shirt into 2 piece pajamas - Part 2: Shirt

Did you miss step one? CLICK HERE!!!

okay, so here is part two.
Lets grab the bodice part of the cut up shirt, and that RTW shirt you picked out from the closet.
You'll also need a rotary cutter, fabric scissors, pins, your cutting mat, and a serger (if possible).

Here I've laid the RTW Shirt on top of the cut shirt. You'll notice that the tip of my scissors shows where the deepest area of the V-neck lies behind the RTW shirt. This doesn't have any significance for the directions other than showing you where it's lying since you can't feel it like I could ;)


You're going to cut off a bit of the shoulder area b/c otherwise the neckline will be way too big for a childs head/shoulders.


We're going to cut the front panel. When you pin this area, just pin the top layer. It'll make cutting easier.
Pin around the 2 sides and bottom hem of the shirt, just a little outside to create an extra seam allowance.

You'll notice that I put a little diagonal pins at any of the "peaks". The corners of the shoulders, the end of the arm opening at the arm pin, the side of the shirt where it meets the hem, etc. That'll make cutting less confusing.

here it is minus the RTW


Cut out the top layer


Here's the front panel


Take the excess fabric and lay it as flat as possible, then lay the front panel down on top of it, lining the top shoulder areas of the front panel with the back neckline. This will save you from having to finish the back neckline.


Cut it out


Now that you've got your front and back panels, lets do the sleeves.
My little girl is VERY petite, so I prefer to give her sleeves a little less bulk to them, otherwise her clothes just look very oversized. That's why I shape her sleeves the way I do.
You can shape yours differently - however will fit your child the best.

This is how I make mine:
I make a template for my sleeves.
You take a piece of paper, line one edge up with the side seam.
Trace the bottom hem, and cut it out


Now you will lay your front/back panels over the paper. This placement is all about your judgement/preference. The side seam of the fabric you are about to cut will be the area of the sleeve that drops down from the shoulder over the bicep. So when you lay the front/back on it, you need to be sure that the angle of that side seam is at the right angle for your sleeve shape preference.
I prefer lily's sleeve to drop a little more than a traditional t-shirt.

So here is mine. Just trace the arm hole, then cut it out with scissors.


Use your rotary tool to cut the fabric out


Do this a 2nd time to make your 2nd sleeve, then this is what you should have


I had to remove a small tag from the side seam of one of the sleeves, so I ripped it out, then re-serged over that area to close it up again.


Flip your front/back panels so they are right sides together, then serge the shoulder seams.


Now you want to open up your shirt, so the inside is down, right side is up. You are going to open one sleeve piece and lay it right side down on the front panel, lining up the edge.


Serge the edge of the sleeve to the edge of the arm hole. (the center serged line is from closing the hole from the tag i removed. You won't have that most likely)


Finish the other sleeve


Sew up your side seams for the shirt and sleeve


Do the same on the other side


Turn right side out


You then hem the bottom of the shirt. I can't finish the hem on this right now, b/c my red thread is too thick for my machine and it keeps crapping out on me. So I just serged the raw edge for now, and I'll hem it up later ;)


So that's my tutorial.
As always, it might not be the best way. It might not be the prettiest way. But it's functional and it's a money saver. So I wanted to share how I do it, in case anyone else might be interested in trying.