repurposing a golf shirt: my very first tutorial

I bought it at a thrift store. He wore it with pride, as he loves golf and is partial to the Masters Tournament. Once I realized it, I never had the heart to tell him that it is actually a ladies shirt, because it looks so gender neutral. I even went so far as to cut out the tag. But, as sons tend to do, #2 grew out of one of his favorite golf shirts.

Rather than donating it, I decided to give it a new life as a toddler shirt to, perhaps, wear with shorts or capri pants I make out of some of my spiffy new fabric. OR, perhaps all of those are spoken for and I need to go back to Hobby Lobby! (insert evil laugh here)

In any case, I have so enjoyed reading other crafty tutorials that decided to make my own (very first!!) tutorial: repurposing a golf shirt.

If you ever want to try it, here's how:

Step 1: Grab a polo-style golf shirt.

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Step 2: I used Children's Corner pattern #242, size 2 as a guide to cut the neck and arm curves and then just cut diagonally down from the underarm to the hem. Sadly, I did not use the "back" pattern piece as a template for the back of the shirt. I simply used the front of the shirt. Ah, well. This is how we learn, right? In any case, whether you use the pattern I used, another pattern you already have, or "eyeball" it, step two is to cut a front and a back. It is easiest to keep the original hem of the shirt to save a few steps.

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Step 3: Next, though I could have used my serger to serge all the edges, the baby was asleep in "our sewing room" and I was too excited about getting it done didn't want to wake my sweet angel, so I used a type of stretchy zigzag stitch to keep the edges from fraying. There are many ways to overcast the edges.

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Step 4: Sew shoulder seams. I used a 1/4" seam allowance.

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Step 5: Topstitch on either side of shoulder seam.

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Step 6: This beautiful pleated grosgrain ribbon came from Farmhouse Fabrics and is $2.50/yd. I used less than 24". I sewed the ribbon with the open part of the pleats facing downward on the right side of the shirt. Then I flipped the ribbon up and topstitched, which makes it stand up so nicely and keeps the hem edge in place.

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Step 7: Close up side seams (1/4" seam allowance) and hem arm holes (again about 1/4 ")

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Step 8: Tah Dah! The finished product actually would fit a 4 or 5 year old. But, this is good, because in a couple of years, # 5 will be adorable in it.

***Credit where credit is due: Feel free to use this for yourself or pass it along, but I respectfully ask that if you do, please link back here. Thanks. Also, I would love to see your finished product if you decide to repurpose your own polo.