How To: Alter Your Crew Neck T-shirts

Here's the first thing you need to know: I am not a seamstress. At all. But I do have a sewing machine and a smattering of crafting knowledge (thank you, Simply Handmade magazine that I used to write for) so sometimes, I experiment. And one of those experiments has turned out really well for me - altering crew neck t-shirts so they are scoop neck shirts. I don't know about you, but I always feel like I'm being choked by my shirts, plus the giant sleeves are not so flattering, but every once in a while, I really need to be able to just throw on a big t-shirt (especially in my awkward postpartum body phase). So last summer, I started cutting out the necks of my shirts and wow, it has made such a difference! I mentioned that I do this to someone recently and she seemed intrigued, so here are some instructions if you want to do this yourself. (Sorry for the low-quality pictures!)

1. Find a crew neck t-shirt that you want to alter. I'd recommend picking one that you aren't attached to so that if something goes wrong, you aren't heartbroken that your favorite comfy shirt is ruined. Notice that the neck is super high on this shirt and that the sleeves are very loose.

Unflattering mirror pic - check.

 2. Use a white pencil/crayon/chalk/whatever to mark your new neckline on the front of your shirt. I've tried just eyeballing it without guidelines and it almost always comes out uneven. Heck, even my guidelines look uneven. So definitely do this.

The fabric is going to stretch and you will be hemming the edge, so mentally add another 1/4" or more and that's where the new neckline will be. I don't like wide necklines, so I always start right on the outside of the collar and go down from there, adding more space in the center (see below).

3. Cut off the collar of the shirt. I like to start at one of the shoulder seams and cut out the back first. I don't prefer shirts that are low in the back, so I cut off only the collar right along the seam.

Follow your marked guidelines for the front of the shirt as closely as possible and throw that claustrophobia-inducing collar away!

4. Turn the shirt inside out and fold the new collar edge over by 1/4". I like to pin it in place so I can check to make sure the folded edge looks even all around.

5. Sew the folded edge in place. I've found that a zigzag stitch works best on these shirts but I've also used a straight stitch and it's fine. Here's a pic of the settings I use on my machine - zigzag stitch that's on the slightly smaller and shorter side. I recommend experimenting on scrap fabric (like the collar you just cut off) to find the stitch size you want.

I usually start on the back of the shirt so that my back stitching isn't visible on the front. For the shoulder seams, I typically fold them over at a slight angle so I don't have to sew through two seams in one spot. It's still pretty thick but go slow (or even hand crank over them) and it should be just fine!

You can see that the fabric stretches quite a bit when you put it through the sewing machine. Just keep that in mind when cutting!

6. If you just want to alter the collar, you're done! But if you want to make the sleeves a little less gigantic, here's a very simple way to do that. With the shirt inside out, mark a diagonal line from the edge of the sleeve (I usually do that about a finger's width from the seam) to just in front of the armpit. Zigzag stitch along that marked line (be sure to back stitch) and trim the excess shirt below the sewed line. (Sorry I don't have a picture.) Now the sleeve will be more fitted at the opening!

7. To make sure the sleeves come out even, I line them up and mark the newly sewn edge of the first sleeve on the second. Then I finish drawing my line to just in front of the armpit, sew, and cut just like the first.

Sometimes the sleeves look way off so to make sure I made them the same, I'll line them up one more time and check that the seams are in the same place. This isn't a great picture but hopefully you can see what I mean!

8. All done! Here is the finished product - a neck that lets me breathe and slightly more fitted sleeves. You can see that where the sleeve attaches to the shirt is still loose and baggy. There is a way to fix that but it's more complicated so I only use that for extremely big shirts - another post, maybe?

Still unflattering but at least I can breathe now!

Some tips and warnings learned through experience: 

- Don't cut off the shirt's hemmed edges at the bottom and on the sleeves if you can help it. Because the fabric stretches in the sewing machine, it just doesn't look nice when you're done. If you want to shorten the sleeves, try doing that where the sleeve attaches to the shirt instead of the end (part of my more complicated method).

- If you are going to hem the bottom of your shirt, use another shirt whose length you like as a guide. If you just eyeball it, you could very well end up with a shirt that is too short (true story). Same thing with the sleeves - using another shirt as a guide will help tremendously!

- This works best with the 100% cotton t-shirts that are a slightly heavier, non-stretchy material. I have tried altering shirts that were softer and stretchier and I just don't know enough seamstress-y stuff to make it look nice and not tear the fabric. Probably I need to adjust the tension on my machine? Dunno!

And that's how it's done! I have altered eight shirts this way (plus two more in the more complicated way) and it's so nice to be able to wear these t-shirts again, especially now that it's summer and anything that doesn't require an undershirt is a plus. Let me know if you have questions or feedback in the comments!

P.S. Just for fun, here's the quick story behind the saying on this particular shirt: During my last semester at BYU, my roommates and I decided to make shirts for everyone in the apartment with an inside joke or reference to the semester. Mine is referencing my decision to go to Pittsburgh for grad school, which decision process was quite the ordeal for me.

From left to right: Jen ("Is that a euphemism?"), Bekah ("I'm with Paul"), and Valerie ("I sleep on the couch") on the back row; Anna ("pretty girl into economic development") and me on the front row. Not pictured is Manda, who worked some crazy nurse hours that semester. Her shirt said "I work. I sleep. I buy cds." (She and Amazon.com had a love affair going on.) Good times!