T-Shirt Recreation - Ode to Pippi Longstockings

I have this fantastic book on t-shirt revamping. I pick it up every couple months, and slash another t-shirt or two. So over the last few years, I've made quite a few of the designs. I decided to make another one today, that describes itself like Pippi Longstockings. Braids, mismatched colours, fun adventure... Yep, this shirt has it all.

I started with a band t-shirt I picked up awhile back. I loved the designs, but like all band t-shirts, I never wear it, because I hate the way they wear. You know what I mean; the high collar, the longer sleeves... They just aren't feminine enough for me, I guess.

So I've taken to cutting them up. But when they have a cute design, it takes some thinking to come up with the right design to work around it. Well, I finally found one that would work with this cute ducky shirt!

The first thing I did is cut the sleeves off, just inside of the seam. I was tempted to wear it like this for a day, just to see what my husband would say.

Flip it over next, and cut straight across from the bottom of one armhole to the other, but only through the back layer. Don't cut the front half yet!

Okay, once you've got that, you can flip it back over and cut the front half. I flipped the back part up, so that I wouldn't accidentally cut it. Not that I have plans for that scrap, but never damage a scrap you might be able to use later. Anyways, you've got your shirt front-up, now? Cut a straight line from one mid-armhole to the other. I cut it a little high, because I'm a little bustier than the woman who wrote the book, and I'm usually accommodating for that. I figured I could always trim it down later anyways. I did end up trimming an inch off, but I wish I'd trimmed another inch or two. Right to the duck's head? Anyways, cut it where you want, but remember, you can always cut more; you can never uncut.

The next part was probably the most intensive. You need six 1" wide 30" long strips of fabric. They suggest you cut three of them from the bottom of the shirt, but I thought the shirt would be too short, so I cut them from the bottoms of all my other scrap shirts. It took awhile to find long enough pieces in coordinating fabrics, and then to cut them, but if you're prepared, this could be a lot easier.

I picked two whites, and then two matching reds, one orange and one darker red. The strips could all clash if you wanted, but I was trying to work with the yellow/orange of the duck. So you divy up the strips into two groups, and pin them and braid them.

Just braid as much as you can. Some of it will unbraid later, so don't worry if the strips end up uneven, or anything like that. Just braid. I found it easiest to hold the safety pin end in my mouth, because I didn't have a helper, but I would suggest getting someone to hold one end you can make sure it all turns out right.

So flip the shirt over again, and mark two holes centered on the back, 9" from each other, and about 1" from the top. Thread one end of each braid through each hole. Don't knot it or anything just yet, just flip it back over again.

Now you need two holes where you want the straps in the front. I tried on the shirt, and shoved a safety pin where I wanted the straps. They say to put them in those corners, so after I had the straps through, I made those spots the corners and trimmed some more fabric off. Whatever works for your shirt and your body.

So cut those holes, and thread the other ends of the braids through so that the straps make an X in the back.

Put it on again, and you might need a helper for this bit, pull and adjust all four strap ends until it's tight enough, not too tight, and the ends are the right lengths. Then tie a knot in each end. I started with the front two, just tying them so the dangling ends were a good length, and then get someone to pull and tie the back two ends so that the shirt sits right on you. Trust me, this is a lot easier with four arms. Take it off and trim down the ends to whatever you want. I trimmed that longer side to match the left.

I apologize, but I tend to wear a sports bra when I'm making myself a new shirt, so I can pull it on and off without bulk, or being naked in my sewing room for all the neighbours to see. When I really wear this shirt, I promise not to wear a bright blue sports bra, so just ignore it for now.

Overall, I really like the shirt. It's really summery, and I wish I'd made it earlier. If I wear a sweater, I'll hide those fun little straps, but I'll freeze as the temperature drops. Ah well, it can always wait until next summer.