Sewing und Mending und Making Like New!

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As any fules on this beeotch know, I AM INDIER THAN YOU. So to prove this, I bought me some tshirts on eBay! One is a Yo La Tengo one and has SNOWMENG and Japanese writing on it, and the other one is a Pavement tshirt which says DIE RAD! on it hoorah cheers cheers. Howevah I forgot the SCOURGE of eBay sizing and the tshirts are too big and long and are even a bit too long on RickyT nevah mind little old me.

BUT YOU SEE, I wuv them! So, my question is, how do you go about taking these things up? How do you sew hems? What is "putting a dart" in the sleeves? To open it up a little, are you good at fixing clothes? Do you make your own? Is this something THE YOUTH OF TODAY should know? (I wish I did, moan all the eBay victims of sizing...)

― Sarah, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

NB I bought some sewing thread once. I think Lixi bought the needles. We wanted to sew the names of IRC undernet servers onto t-shirts or alternatively scribble it on in felt-tip pen. I think I was going to be "graz.at.eu.undernet.org" but alas my plang nevah came to fruition because I liked the top I bought too much ah well.

― Sarah, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hrmph would I be getting more answers if I had said "making like Neu!"?

― Sarah, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

hmm. altering t shirts is tricky i find because they tend to fray, not that i'm any good at altering anything anyway so what do i know? once i saw a gurl at a festival who had clearly had the same problem, so she cut off the neck and sleeves of the t shirt and then cut the sides into strips, and then just tied the strips together. it looked punX0r! alternativelyjust buy 2 t shirts that do fit you and cut out the picture panels of the indie tshirts, and then sew them on?

― katie, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i have taken up one pair of trousers once. it was v good job, tho under heavy girlfriendly supervision. i was allowed to use the scissors too.

― Alan Trewartha, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You could make new seams, an inch or half inch along the old ones. I've done that with jeans and skirts, but never shirts. It would take forever by hand, though, you'd need to use really fine stitches on a t-shirt. I usually just wait for the t-shirts to shrink. I've got a sewing machine, but I haven't used it yet.

― Kerry, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Surely, Sarah, the Ultimate Indie thing to do would be to totally botch the job and end up looking like a total bag lady? Therefore you have no need of Helpful Hints, just go right ahead and mess it up for that oh-so-indie tattiness.

― Emma, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Just use them as nightshirts.

― rosemary, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i would cut them or shrink them, tie them up in little knots or something. T-shirt material is indeed a pain to alter and probably not worth it.

― Samantha, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I tried cutting up this smurf t-shirt I had once because the sleeves were, um, awkward, but it made it worse! Panic! Threw it away! Maybe you should try putting it on and cutting it up around your body so you can see what you're doing, or, get someone else to cut. yes.

― Bill, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Are they standard bloke sizes? Best thing to do is cut off the bottom so it's not dragging past your knees. Do it in a semi-circle shape because it hangs better (curve of circle out). Cutting the sleeves off works because there's usually too much fabric left to put proper darts in. Put it on inside out and pin it so you've got the body shape you want. Take off and sew new seem. Ta da! You can cut the neck band off if you want it to hang slightly lower and for it to look less vesty. Does that make any sense? Okay - I'm off to buy Prima now.

― Anna, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You could save them for when you're painting or something.

― Peter Miller, Tuesday, 27 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If they are raglan cut then just taking them in at the sides and chopping off any excess from the bottom should do - no need to hem the bottom if you don't want to, tee-shirt material tends to just roll up onto itself and not fray. If they are normal cut tee-shirts then it's easiest to take them to some cheap seamstress or tailor and get them to reduce the width, length and size of sleeves. Those guys have overlockers which do a much better job than sewing machines. I'm fine with skirts and dresses and trousers but I take shirts and tee-shirts and jackets to professionals because I can't deal with the stress of doing them myself. They should only charge a few dollars, it doesn't take them long to do because they are good at it.

― toraneko, Wednesday, 28 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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