Tutorial: Shirt Alteration

What do you do when you find a cute shirt that's several sizes too big?

Buy it anyway!

I found this shirt at Gap for just a few dollars, but the smallest size was 5 sizes too big.

But it was cheap!

And fun!

So I decided to attempt an alteration...

I felt a bit like a flying squirrel in the before pictures!

Step 1

Line up the armholes and decide how much to take in.

Step 2

I wanted the width to stay the same at the bottom, so I decided to taper from where it needed to be smaller to where I wanted the width to be the same.

Draw a line, using a ruler, from where you want to take in the shirt.

Step 3

Pin in place.

Step 4

Sew down the line.

Step 5

(not pictured)

Try the shirt on to make sure it fits!

If it doesn't, use a seam ripper to remove the stitches and let it in/out.

Step 6

Once you have the fit that works, cut off the excess material.

Step 7

Ta da!

These are shameless self portraits!  I really need a live-in photographer!

I used a belt to define a waist, but if fits great even without the belt.

This will be a good fall transition with a cardigan!

So if you find a great bargain that doesn't quite fit, don't be afraid to do a little altering!  The alteration doesn't cost anything and doesn't take much time!