How To Make A Men’s T Shirt Feminine Without Sewing
Do you have a favorite t-shirt of your brother or boyfriend that you plan to make your own? Well, giving it a feminine look is easier than you think. All you need to do is go a bit of snip-snip here, and some tug and roll there, and that’s it! You will have a really cool women’s t-shirt in no time.
Are you excited to make yourself a new t-shirt from an old men’s one? Read on!
How To Make A Men’s T Shirt Feminine Without Sewing?
Contents
There are several ways to make a men’s t-shirt feminine without any sewing. You can shorten the sleeves as per your liking or cut off the sleeves completely. It also helps if you widen the neckline or give the t-shirt an off-shoulder look. The trick is to cut small parts at a time, and wear it again before chopping off more from the t-shirt.
1. Shorten Your Sleeves
If the problem is with the fit of the t-shirt, you can improve the fit by shortening the sleeves. All you need to do is cut off the sleeves right over the hem to give it a bit of softness and lift that you want.
In this case, it is better to use fabric shears rather than a pair of scissors. The best ones are available at a price of eight to ten bucks, and are good to go in this regard. Also, make sure to use those shears only for fabrics and not cardboard boxes or shrink-wrapped packaging.
Next, snip along the edges, and after you are done, give it a bit of tug. Gently stretch those sleeves such that the unfinished edges curl. You do not have to finish the edge because t-shirts are made of jersey material, and it doesn’t fray.
Moreover, you can use those little loops of fabric that you have cut out from the actual hem to make headbands. Cloth headbands are pretty comfortable and great for workouts.
2. Change Your T-shirt’s Neckline
Now, you can only do the same things that you did to change the sleeves, and that’s it. For this, you will have to turn your t-shirt inside out and cut right along its neck band. Get that removed, along with the tag. Voila! The neckline is now wider, and it still covers your bra straps.
Right at the crossover neck to shoulder seams, cut across by utilizing the ribbed neck band (not the seaming) as your guide. Don’t worry as the seams won’t unravel regardless of how many times you put it in the washer-dryer. After removing the neck band, give another tug to the opening to make the edges curl up. Finally, cut off all the points that look obvious and jagged (usually the shoulder seams stick up) and give it one more tug.
After this, wear the t-shirt once more with the undergarments that you plan to wear with that, and stand in front of the mirror. Do you want the neckline to be wider? Do you want the neck to scoop lower in the back or front? Wish the neck to have a V-line kind of shape?
Well, you can get any neckline that you want. But you will have to take it slow, while cutting slivers off at a time. Also, keep the t-shirt right side out, so that you have a view of the graphic over it. Tug the tee such that it curls up after every snip, and wear the t-shirt each time to cut off a part of the neckline.
Usually, for a feminine look, you would need a bit of a scoop right in front. So, you will have to start by having the t-shirt right side out. Next, match the shoulder seams to make the ‘front’ of the t-shirt as the sleeve, instead of the graphic. Use a soap bar or chalk to mark out this place where you want to cut.
Remember to cut at a right angle, instead of going after the width. Think of it as cutting a thin slice of a pie. It will be thick at the crust, but become thinner until the pointy end at the center of the pie.
Similarly, you can draw a line of about ¼” from the neckline’s center. Keep angling it such that it becomes thinner as it ends at an inch before the shoulder seams. Cut outside that mark you made, tug on to get it rolled, and wear it.
3. Make An Off-shoulder T-shirt From A Men’s T-shirt
If you want the t-shirt off your shoulder, you will need to follow all the steps mentioned before. But in this case, you will have to cut one more pie from the back of the t-shirt. Then, tug the sides and try it on. You can take off more from the shoulders if you want the neckline to be wider.
However, before you cut once more, give it a good tug. After all, t-shirts are usually quite stretchy without the seams. So, you might need to do anything more to get the neckline you want.
In fact, to be doubly sure about the fit, wash your tee before cutting anymore. You would not want to cut off and completely ruin a perfectly good t-shirt.
4. Shorten A Long Men’s T-shirt To Your Size
Similar to necklines and sleeves, the cut hem of t-shirts tends to roll up. If you are not planning to trim off the hem, crop it, tie it, or tuck it in, it might look really messy. And in case the tee fits tighter over the stomach, it will definitely roll up more.
But any regular t-shirt that you get from workplaces or family reunions end up looking like a dress without a few changes. To get this done nice and quick, start by ironing your t-shirt to make it appear smooth and crease free.
Next, use some straight pins to make the back and front stay together. After this, use your ruler and draw a few dots using a soap bar, chalk, or tailor’s pencil. Mark the specific amount that you want to cut up, but don’t make it too short because the t-shirt will roll up.
Connect the dots using the ruler, and lay the t-shirt on a flat surface to cut it off. This time, you do not need to tug and roll up after you are done. As such, you need the t-shirt to roll up as little as possible.
When the t-shirt feels a bit too snug, try to trim off only the hem of your shirt. Try the same method that was mentioned before for the sleeves. Simply removing the hem is enough to loosen the t-shirt.
Then, you can give a few tugs at the right places to turn a meh t-shirt into a wow one. Now, the hem will roll up, but as the shirt is not too snug and you have not shortened it that much, it would not roll up excessively.
5. Make A Men’s T-shirt Sleeveless
Keep one thing in mind that simply cutting off the sleeves of a t-shirt does not make it look cute or perfect. This is only okay when you have a t-shirt that is at least three sizes big, and you are planning to wear a nice bralette or camisole below it. After all, cutting it off like that will make it gape.
Similar to the technique you learned in the case of the neckline, cut along the shoulder seams, while removing the seam along with the sleeve. Again, you do not have to tug and roll. The rolling part is something it will manage on its own, and you would not want to encourage that or make those armholes wider.
Many women like the look that comes from cutting out the neck of men’s t-shirts. You need to cut off about two to four inches from the hem. Then, cut off the sleeves to make it a cute top that you can wear with your sports bar for outdoor activities and gym. As a matter of fact, it will look great over a jumpsuit or dress.
What Type Of Fabric Should I Use?
You can do this using any soft fabric. Choose a t-shirt that is not too thick and is fairly loose-fitted so that the stitches don’t appear from the other side of your garment. As such, you can go for light cotton or thin fabrics like fleece or silk.
Just remember not to choose something that is see-through or super thin because such materials tend to roll up more than you can anticipate. So, it would be hard to assess how much to cut off and from where.
Wrapping Up
And that’s all you need to know about making your favorite men’s t-shirt as your own! Now, get to work using all the tips that you got just now. You have a new t-shirt to make from that old one.
Crafting has always been a deep-seated passion of mine, one that has flourished and evolved over the years.
I've dedicated considerable time to both studying and practicing in the realm of fashion and sewing, amassing a wealth of experience and skills.
It brings me great joy to share these insights and experiences with you all, hoping to inspire and foster a similar passion for the art of sewing.
- How To Hem Chiffon With Tape - January 21, 2024
- How To Fix Ripped Jeans That Ripped Too Much? - January 9, 2024
- How To Make Pants Waist Smaller Without Sewing? - January 8, 2024
