DIY T ...

Last Friday, a friend & I went to the Vivienne Westwood exhibit at The de Young in SF. I had already been thinking about trying my hand at altering some Tshirts, but after seeing Vivienne's work I was more inspired than ever ... not to mention the fact that after seeing true DIY fashion that was worn by The Sex Pistols, Siouxsie Sioux and the like there was no way I was going to pay $$ for a faux punk T from the museum store. Instead, I bought a new pair of shears, grabbed one of the Ts I picked up at SXSW this year and sat down at the sewing machine ...

It started with the 'Generation T' book and some sketches ...



I decided to go for the girlie-T ... seemed fitting for T advertising a Japanese all-girl rock band, Gitogito Hustler ...





Then it was time to start cutting & pinning. I cut the bottom hem off - then cut two additional strips to use as "ties" in the side-rouching (found this technique in the 'Generation T' book). After that - sliced up both sides - including through the sleeves.



Next, time to pin up the sides and sew some channels in order to thread the T strips through in order to create the rouching ...







Then, some more trimming of the collar and sleeves before a few last-minute gathers ...





And, Voila! The new Gitogito Hustler T ...



Even wore it to work ...

No T-shirt is Safe ...

Gettin' in the mood for Maker Faire...



I bought this book several weeks ago (always a sucker for new how-tos, reference goodies and crafty ideas) ... I flipped through the book immediately and even sketched how to alter some Ts purchased at SXSW shows this year.

But, it wasn't until tonight that the scissors came out.

Have to say, it's quite therapeutic to slice up a t-shirt on a Friday night ... a little late-night dose of craft plus it puts a nice point on the end of the work week.