T-Shirt Upcycling - The Knitter's Way

I started this project back in 2016, when I was quite into watching DIY videos on YouTube (especially sewing toturials). I had the idea of upcycling thrifted stuff, but with a certain knitting element :). I first tried the general idea on an old black T-Shirt I had, but the finished product had so many flaws so that it wasn't fit to be worn in public. But you learn from your mistakes, right?
So I started with a similar idea on a nice dotted t-shirt that I had bought at the thrift shop. However, it was a bit tight especially around the arms, so I decided to make it a bit wider by inserting a ribbon into the sideseams ... but this ribbon as well as a piece for the neckline are hand-knitted :)

This is NOT a tutorial, but just an explanation of the basic idea.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.




The Materials I Used

• an old T-shirt
• thin cotton yarn (fingering or sport weight)
• knitting needles the yarn calls for
• scissors and a seamripper
• sewing needle and thread 

How I Did It

• First I decided on the design. Since this piece had a low back that I didn't quite like, I decided to turn it around, but to include a knitted panel in front to make the neckline not quite as low.
• To get the measurements of the pieces to be knitted 
• I measured the distance from the bottom hem along the side seam to the end of the arm hem
• and with a piece of paper inserted into the front, I drew a semicircular shape that I'd need for the front piece - and cut that out (plus about 5mm seam allowance around the curve).
• Then I knitted the three pieces:
• two garter stitch ribbons (10 sts wide) that are as long as the measured distance from the bottom hem along the side seam to the end of the arm hem
• the semicircle (starting with a few stitches and increasing symmetrically)
• And I gently blocked my hand-knitted pieces.
• I seamripped the side seams of your T-shirt - including the underarm seam. 
• With a sewing needle and thread that matched my yarn I handstitched the knitted pieces to the T-Shirt (starting in 2016 ... and finishing just now :)

Even though I'm not completely happy with the result, I think the idea of combining T-shirts with hand-knitted elements has a certain potential. (T-shirts are also knitted, after all :). Plus, I think that upcycling (or reusing) old stuff is a good thing. But I guess before I achieve something that is wearable outside, I need to work on my sewing skills - e.g. learning to do this on a sewing machine ... and get over my "fear" of using a sewing machine on my hand-knitted pieces.
Have you ever combined hand-knitted (or hand-crocheted) pieces with cloth (jersey or woven)? If so, do you have any tips how to apply a sewing machine to hand-knitted pieces? I'd be grateful for anything helpful :)