High Heels High Hopes and Cute Shirts

I went to a small high school that has a very close community of students, teachers and alumni. Almost, a month ago I saw through Facebook posts that a girl a few years below me had been hit by a car while running in LA. From, what I have learned, Lauren sounds like an amazing and fashionable girl!
Her friends and family with the help of the IWA community have raised a TON of money to help with the long road to recovery. One of the fundraisers was a super cute t-shirt with a slogan she loved that had taken on a whole new meaning since the accident “High Heels High Hopes”. Fundraisers are an acceptable reason to purchase clothing during my year of no clothing shopping so I ordered one!
I love the motto but am not really a t-shirt gal. However, because of the message I really wanted to wear this out and since Lauren was so chic I wanted to look good in it too! I decided since I only wear t’s to bed I can try to fix it up and if it didn’t turn out well I could still wear it to bed.


I am pleased with the results! My plan was to make it more fitted, do something with the neckline, and doctor up the sleeves… I did it and you can too!

Standard Ts even if they are “sized for women” are boxy and because of the thickness of the cotton they don’t drape well like a tissue jersey shirt might. So instead of the chic oversized look you just look frumpy. Luckily, this is an easy thing to fix!

With the shirt on pinch in the sides until you have the fit you want and pin in that location.
Pro Note: Use safety pins or you will poke yourself multiple times and the pins may fall out when you take the shirt off (not that I know this from experience…)


Measure from the pin to the edge of the shirt on both sides and add together. This will give you half the amount you need to remove since the shirt is folded. This number will be measurement A, save it for later! Now divide A by 2 giving you measurement B.
Example: I measured a total of 8cm, A = 8cm and B = 4cm


At this point since I knew I wanted to change the sleeves I removed them to make it a little easier to mark my measurements along the sides. Grab your seam ripper and get cozy for a few a bit. I tuned in to my dvred episodes of So You Think You Can Dance… so glad that show is back!


When you are done you should have a lovely sleeveless t and two sleeves. Save your sleeves, you will need them later!


Now turn your shirt inside out. Since this shirt had a defined design on the front I used the edges of the text as my starting point. Measure from the edge of the text to the side of the shirt on both sides. Add these number together and divide by two. Now subtract measurement B from earlier to get the first measurement you will mark on your shirt.
Example: Using my numbers from above and simplifying a bit lets say I measured a total of 20cm, divided by 2 this is 10cm for each side. 10 – B(4cm) = 6cm. So I will measure 6cm from the edge of the letters out and mark each side. I made a few marks on both sides so I would be able to connect the marks.


Next you can add a seam allowance just to be safe if you want to. I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance.


Rotate your shirt so you are looking at the side of the shirt and the front and back sides are folded now. (Does this make any sense?!?!) Now measure from the first marks you made using measurement A. So I measured 8 cm, the total amount I want removed from each side.


At this point I also removed the collar. You can keep yours depending on what look you are going for. Because of the text on the front I didn’t want to remove too much fabric. I simply measured 1/2 inch from the edge of the collar all the way around. Using my rotary cutter I carefully cut around the collar connecting the dots marked.


Now is your chance to check your work before any cutting happens. Pin each side where you marked it and try the shirt on! If it fits how you want you are ready to cut and sew. If not play around with your measurements taking it more or letting it out a bit.


When you are satisfied with the amount being taken in simply cut your fabric where you marked the seam allowance. Pin both sides together where you marked the removal markings (with the shirt still inside out) and sew the edges back together. Since I measured out a 1/2 inch seam allowance I simply sewed straight down with the raw edges 1/2 inch from the needle. I used a zig zag stitch since we are working with knit. When you are done try it on again to make sure everything fits right. If you are happy cut close to the seam to remove excess material.

Now you are ready to put the sleeves back on! If you try it on and like it sleeveless skip this step. I wanted a little of a ruffled puffy sleeve. (My husband says because of my love for ruffles and lace I would wear clothes from the toddler section if they fit me… I don’t completely disagree.) My pictures on how I got my ruffle didn’t turn out great but luckily one of my favorite crafty blogs has a great tutorial. Go here to Make It & Love It if you need ruffle help! Once your ruffle is ready pin the right side of your ruffle to the right side of your shirt sleeve opening and sew. You will also need to sew the raw edge of the sleeve to the raw edge of the arm hole (see image below).


Yay! You are 90% done! Just hem up your raw edges in whatever way you choose. I tried to get fancy and use some homemade bias tape. I am not going to show you how I did that because I fiddled with it for awhile and didn’t LOVE how it came out. You can definitely do that or you can just fold and iron your edges under and sew a zig zag along them. Don’t forget the remaining raw edges of the arm holes too!


You are done!!! Wear your new chic shirt with pride!

You can learn more about Lauren’s story at her Caring Bridge site or get updates on her condition at her best friend’s blog Life of the Lucy’s.
Now I can wear this shirt to support Lauren and look good in it!

This was my first sewing tutorial. I would love your feedback! How did I do? Was it confusing or easy to follow? Was there anything missing or did I include too much detail? What could I do differently? What did you like?
Thank you sooo much!
Meg