So the whole refashion/recycling sweatshirt project was so much fun that I thought I would see what else I could do. I don't recall whether I mentioned it in the sweatshirt post, but I thought that I could crank out a few onesies out of some old t-shirts that I had lying around. Just so happens I have a pattern for onesies.
This isn't really a tutorial, but if you happen to have a pattern lying around for onesies or want to try this yourself, you'll want t-shirts that are a) big enough (these are men's large and extra large) and b) t-shirts that don't have seams on the sides. The front and back pattern pieces are meant to be cut on the fold of the fabric, so as you can see here, I've placed them on the sides of the t-shirt where the 'fold' is. I know the photos are a little dull, but I've just not been all that enamoured with my flash lately. Weird lighting this time of year. I'm also doing the small size in the pattern. It goes down as far as xxs, which would also be fine, and I may have been able to eek out a medium, but small was fine for my purposes. (In my amateur estimation, the resulting size is about a 3-6/6-9 month size, compared with some other store bought onesies I have already).
So yadda yadda yadda, I get a little into what I'm doing and forget to take some 'in progress' photos. But here is the the onesies all sewn, or rather, serged, together. If it wasn't for my serger, I don't think I would bother with these projects, since sewing with t-shirt or jersey material on just a sewing machine is a fast track to insanity. For the crotch area, I made sure that my pattern piece went as far down as the bottom hem of the t-shirt. The pattern called for cutting out pieces for the neck bands and for bands around the leg. Again, since I wanted fast and easy and not so much on the insane part, I opted just to serge around these areas. It gives a less finished look, but whatever. These are clothes that are likely to be barfed on. I'm not that fussy.
The t-shirt I used for this onesie was a little worn and thin, so while likely pretty comfy, would only be good for very warm weather or perhaps at night for sleeping, in a sleep sack. Anyway, I remembered that in purging a lot of his t-shirts, the constable was a little bummed out that some of his favourite logo's would also be lost to the rag pile. So I cut out one of the smaller ones, went and got some stuff called Wonder Under (or Heat n' Bond as I knew it), which through the magical process of ironing, creates a nice iron-on logo or patch. Ta-da! Funkified.
That is until I went to finish the process, which requires that you put a damp cloth on top of the logo for the final ironing which bonds the logo to the project and used a red cloth that bled all over my white onesie. DAR! Ruination. So I'm gonna wash it and if it doesn't come out, try and peel it off and do it again on another onesie or take the cursed cloth and do the same thing all over the rest of the outfit to get a mottled/tie-dye effect.
Not satisfied to stop at one, I did it again, this time with one of my own old t-shirts. I got this for volunteering for the conservation authority in my last county of residence. Does anyone ever wear these things after the fact, other than for painting houses or doing yard work? Neon orange just isn't my colour. Needless to say, it's never been worn. This time I flipped the shirt over and cut out the pieces on the back, so that I could avoid getting any writing in my cutting.
And this is how I did the sleeves; cut the sleeves off the t-shirt and through the underarm seam so that they would lie flat. Placed them wrong sides together, centered the pattern piece and cut away. The hem of the t-shirt sleeve becomes the hem of the onesie sleeve. Easy peesy, lemon squeezy.
This time around I wanted a more finished/less homemade look, so I cut the neck band off the shirt and used it for the neck band of the onesies, topstitching on the right side to secure the seam. Same with the leg bands, although this time I had to salvage some neckbands from two other white t-shirts, but I think it looks rather cute! I also added a Simple Knot Newborn Cap like the ones Carrie made, which are too cute for words (link to pattern via her website if you're interested). I thought about adding the logo from the front of the shirt to the onesie, but it was too heavy to bond well and I didn't care for it anyway. So in the garbage it went along with the scraps of the shirt and I am quite pleased to see the end of it, knowing I've at least given it a second life. The only thing left to do on both onesies is sew or hammer on some snaps in the crotch and at either side of the neck. El finito.
Isn't this orange onesie now just screaming for some matching socks? And I have just the yarn in my stash too. Stay tuned...
