5 Easy No-sew Projects to Get More From Your Clothes

It’s easy to find great shirts at your local thrift store, but harder to know what to do with them once you get them home.

In this tutorial, I will show you some great ways to upcycle flannel shirts, t-shirts, and button-down shirts. Best of all, these are all no-sew t-shirt upcycle tips!

Tools and materials:

• Scissors
• Iron
• Protective towel
• Flannel shirt
• Hot water
• Bleach
• Cord jacket
• Fabric dye (dark color preferred)
• Salt
• Top with a pull and a stain
• Iron-on patches
• Oversized t-shirt
• T-shirt yarn or similar material
• Dyed t-shirt

1. Make a grunge-style flannel shirt

Fill a sink or bucket with hot water, and add 1.5 to 2 cups of bleach to the water.

Soak half of the flannel shirt in the bleach mixture for about 1½ minutes.

Rinse the shirt with cool water.

Then launder as usual to complete the transformation into a grunge-style shirt.

2. Dye a corduroy jacket

Fill a sink with hot water and add two dye packets and 1½ cups of salt to the water.

Submerge the jacket, ensuring it is fully saturated, and let it soak according to the dye packet instructions.

If you want to, add any other item you want to dye to this dye bath.

After dyeing, rinse and launder the jacket as usual.

Enjoy your new dyed corduroy jacket.

And by the way, here’s the yellowish t-shirt I threw into the same dye bath!

3. Fix a top with iron-on patches

Arrange iron-on patches on a top to cover any little holes, pulls or stains.

Place a protective towel over the patches, and then use a very hot iron to adhere the patches to the fabric.

Goodbye holes and stains!

4. Make a no-sew two-piece summer set

Start with a long, oversized t-shirt, and decide the desired length for the top. Mark the length with a pin.

Lay the shirt flat and cut it to create the top piece of your set.

To make the skirt, turn the bottom piece of the t-shirt upside-down and make two small cuts in the front hem of the remaining fabric.

Thread t-shirt yarn or a similar material through the hem to create a drawstring waistband. This works best if you have a t-shirt with no side seams.

Knot the ends of the drawstring to keep them from pulling through.

5. Alter a t-shirt for a cooler look

Cut a small hole near the neckline of your t-shirt.

Remove the finished neckline to create a wide neck.

Optionally, if you need to, trim the shirt to wear it off one shoulder.

Here is my finished two-piece summer set, made out of one oversized t-shirt!

No-sew projects

I hope you give one more of these easy no-sew upcycles, and leave a comment to let me know which one you liked best.

Next, learn How to DIY a Cute Vintage Upcycled Bag.