making a big t-shirt smaller

I received this awesome "i love nerds" t shirt (hehe) for my birthday, but it's a little big. I could put it through a wash/dry cycle to shrink it, but I'm scared that the lettering will become distorted. (Actually, I should probably check to see if it's been preshrunk)

i was thinking turning it inside out, pinning the excess on both sides, and sewing it smaller. that would probably work for the body, but not the sleeves, right?

any other ideas? =)

i am positively in love with this shirt, so if there's no hope in altering it, i will wear it with pride down yonge st, hoping to catch the eye of a cute nerd! =D

Reply to
Glitterati
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Do you want it a bit girly? If so, decide where you want your waist to be; then on each side, measure evenly and stretch-stitch elastic on each side to pull it in.

| | |--- ---| Gather lines, front & back |--- ---| | |

For the sleeves, you can CAREFULLY pick open the stitching to just above the hem, run narrow elastic through to make gathered sleeves and then stitch the seam again. I did this a long time ago with some BF t-shirts I loved, but were way too big.

Reply to
Poohma

I remake t-shirts quite often, just turn the shirt inside out and trace in 1 inch from the original sem from the hem, up though the arm pit to the sleeve hem. I then serge or stretch stitch along this line. Usually I cut off 2 inches from the bottom and re-hem the shirt, then I cut off the neck ribbing and make the neck line lower, then I sew a 1 inch strip from the disgarded hem to the right side of the new neckline, turn it to the inside as a facing and top stitch it in place. Hippie Chic Teri

Reply to
Teri in HN

thanks guys! =)

quick question though, what is stretch stitching?

Reply to
Glitterati

On 11 Feb 2004 10:04:46 -0800 in alt.sewing, snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Glitterati) was alleged to have written:

The way my machine does it is two steps forward then one back. When you stretch the material afterwards, the backward stitch allows some slack so that the unstretchable thread doesn't break. Not enough for a huge amount of stretch like elastic, but enough for knits. It's also extremely strong on non-stretch materials. If your machine doesn't have it, you can possibly substitute zig-zag.

Reply to
David Harmon

Thanks David, My machine has several decorative stretch stitches, but the most common one is also know as the blind hem stitch, it sews several straight stitches then 1 zig (or maybe it's a zag) . This allows the fabric to give a little. Teri

Hippie Chic Teri

Reply to
Teri in HN

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