Lettuce-Edge Repurposed T-shirt Cardigan

I love wearing t-shirts. Soft knit cotton is comfortable, versatile, and often a flattering look.  So when I go to put on one of my favorite long-sleeve tees at the beginning of cooler weather, and it has little "mouse holes" on the front of the shirt right at the belt-line, I'm annoyed. Have you ever experienced this?  

Well, I am SO STOKED (I don't think I've used that phrase since high school) about sharing the clothing re-purpose I just did!  I have already salvaged two of my waist-line-hole-ridden t-shirts and made them into cute cardigans. It was seriously easy, and now I have TWO cute cardigans! 

AND, I am now on the lookout for non-hole-ridden tees on sale to do this to, because cardigans are usually so much more pricey and in shorter supply than t-shirts are! 

Here's the how-to:

1. Start with a long-sleeve knit t-shirt. I made one from a round neck and one from a v-neck. Both turned out cute. The v-neck has a more casual lay to it when finished.

So here's a close up of the "mouse holes."  Thankfully not actually made from mice. I've heard they come from doing too-big loads of laundry. **Guilty** 

If you have holes at the belt-line that are on the sides of your shirt, this won't help get rid of those. But if you are like me, the holes are usually right below my navel, in the middle of the shirt. 

2. Cut the t-shirt front from the center of the neckline to the center of the hem. 

3. Set your machine stitch width to 5 and the length to 2. Use a zig-zag stitch setting.

4. Pull the t-shirt along the cut edges so that it rolls in on itself, ideally with the raw edge turning to the inside. (Most jersey knits do this fairly easily). Beginning at one end of one cut edge, run a zig-zag stitch right along the edge of the roll, pulling both ends of the fabric taught while the machine feeds the fabric through. Pulling out the elasticity of the fabric while you are sewing with taught thread is what makes the wave in the lettuce-edge.  Tie off each end with a reverse stitch or two. Repeat on the other cut edge. 

And you're done! 

My little mouse holes on the striped shirt were rolled into the pretty edge, and were gone! I cut about an inch extra out of the bottom of my white shirt to get rid of all the holes. I blended the cut so it was still straight when I sewed the lettuce edge, and it turned out great!

I discovered that the stretchier the fabric, the more prominent the waves will be. My striped shirt has looser waves because it stretched more horizontally than vertically. The white shirt was very stretchy in both directions, so it has tighter waves.

I was so excited for the finished product!  

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