Easy T-shirt Upcycle Idea: DIY 90's Grunge

Tools and materials:

• Collared shirt
• T-shirt
• Scissors
• Pins
• Sewing machine

1. Plan the refashion

The first thing I do is decide how much of each garment is usable. 

For this t-shirt, the sleeves were badly marked but I loved the graphic on the front.

The shirt wasn’t my style at all and I didn’t like the collar I’d attached to it at my first attempt.

2. Cut the fabrics

Fast fashion t-shirts tend to twist and go out of shape very easily, so folding them in half lengthways and trying to match the shoulder and side seams is usually a waste of time.

I laid it out flat and cut out the center back and front panels by eye. If you’re not so confident, you can measure and mark before cutting.

I placed the shirt flat and lined it up at the sides and shoulders.

I cut the collar and collar stand off the shirt.

I laid the t-shirt panel over the front of the shirt to see how the two might fit together.

I decided I wanted to keep as much of the pocket as possible and also make the shirt slightly larger overall.

I folded the shirt in half lengthways at the center front.

I used the lines of the pattern as my guide and cut away the center front and back sections. 

I put the button and buttonhole plackets in my stash to use in a future project.

3. Join the fabrics

My plan is a simple one. I’m going to insert the t-shirt panels into the center front and back of the shirt.

Before doing that, I made a narrow double hem along both sides of the cut edges of the shirt, as they were starting to fray.

Also, I prefer when possible not to have raw edges on the inside of my clothes.

I turned the shirt and the center t-shirt panel inside out and placed them together with the t-shirt graphic facing down.

I lined up the shoulder seams. 

I pinned and sewed the cut edges of the t-shirt to the hemmed edges of the shirt, with the right sides facing.

When I turned the shirt right side out, I was shocked that it seemed to have worked so well.

4. Try on time

However when I tried it on, it was a different story! It looked hilariously bad to me, mainly because the shirt was so much longer than the t-shirt.

Plus the two garments together were too large for me.

I tried different adjustments, but shortening the shirt to match the length of the t-shirt seemed to work best.

As that was a pretty easy modification, I decided to do that first and then see if I needed to change anything else.

5. Modify the original plan

I cut off the bottom of the shirt and hemmed it to match the length of the t-shirt.

It was definitely an improvement, but I couldn’t make up my mind whether to take in the side seams as well.

I decided to style it up properly and see if it was worth salvaging.

DIY upcycled t-shirt

I styled it with distressed jeans and a 90s style beanie and sunglasses.

I think my t-shirt upcycle has an authentic grunge look, which is definitely wearable. It’s very oversized and comfortable but I’m not sure if I’m going to keep it.

Not all upcycle ideas work out the way you imagine, but that’s how you learn what works and what doesn’t work so well.

I’d love to know what you think of this attempt. Please drop me a comment below. Would you wear this as it is, or would you have done something different?

Next, learn How to Make a Cozy Flannel Shirt Dress Out of 2 Old Shirts.