Upcycling old t-shirts - 4 ways

 Hey guys!

Right I know I've been really bad and I haven't actually posted anything here for about 2 months now! Ahhh I know, but been so busy with exams and work experience etc. My last few posts were sort of photography based and it's been a while since I've done a DIY type post so here we go! Thought it would be a cool idea to do a bit of upcycling, which is where you take the clothing you were going to recycle or throw out and instead just customise it yourself and make it just a bit more interesting and fashionable! So here I have shown to you 4 easy ways you can quickly change a boring plain t-shirt into something more fashionable that you can take on holiday! All you need is a t-shirt you were going to throw out, a pair of scissors and a pencil.

 

The first style I have created is fringing. Although this is reasonably time consuming, it's really easy to do and can really change a t-shirt. Firstly mark on the t-shirt with a pencil where you want the fringe to come up too, so how short you want the actual t-shirt part to be. Then just cut lines in about 5mm intervals roughly using scissors from the bottom straight up to the pencil mark .

Just keep repeating this cutting process along the front of the t-shirt and a quick tip to keep the fringes looking a lot neater is to pull the fabric of the individual strip, which sort of rolls in the fabric hiding any uneven cutting lines.

 Once you've completed the fringe steps all the way around the t-shirt, you can cut off the bottom of each of the strips and then make a small knot at the bottom. This just makes everything a lot neater and attractive but can take a bit of time!

This is what the final t-shirt should look like and below is what it looks like on. It's a very easy process and great for holidays if you want something a bit more interesting than just a plain white t-shirt!

Right, so my second design is changing the t-shirt in to a sort of cropped vest top with ties at the bottom. First I took this old t-shirt which is way too big for me that I actually got at the Highland Show, and with a pencil I just marked this outline which allows for a lower neck line, no sleeves and a cropped look with two strips at the bottom. Then just cut around the lines and pull on the fabric at the edges making it roll in, giving a nearer look.

The next step is optional but after pulling the ties at the bottom, tie them together in a small double knot which just adds an extra feature.

This is the final top and I think it's perfect for the holidays! Due to the low arm part (not sure what to call it) you can always but a bright bra or bralette on underneath or even just have your bikini showing underneath.

 

This third idea is actually the most simplistic design change and the quickest to do. So here, take an old t-shirt and at the sleeves draw a rough outline that cuts out the sleeves and continue the line further down, so once cut will create a sort of muscle tee look.

 Again, it's very important to pull the fabric at the edges of your cut to make a neater edge.

This is the final look of this design and it was extremely easy and quick to do. Again I have just worn a colourful crop top underneath just to add something but this is completely optional. You could also alter it further but making a lower neck line if you wanted.

Right, so this is my final design look and is probably the most complicated here but is so much fun to do! I actually saw this kind of t-shirt design in Miss Selfridge and thought I would try and recreate it! So firstly, cut off the sleeves (process explained earlier) and turn it too it's side.

So here is where it gets a bit more complicated, but as you can see you should lay the t-shirt on it's side and starting at the top, cut a short line through the fabric only a few centimetres long and then keep repeating this in couple centimetre intervals but making sure the cuts are longer each time.

You can then turn around the t-shirt and below is what it should look like. Then, pull on each of the strips made which should neaten everything majorly giving a more appealing look.

Now, you could just leave everything here if you wanted and wear it as it is, but this is an extra step you could follow which makes the top a bit more interesting. So first of all, take the top strip of fabric and twist it creating a loop in the middle.

Then, take the strip below that and feed it through the loop and then further twist this strip creating another loop.

You can then repeat this loop process all the way to the bottom, just tying it off at the end and you can do as many of these as you want. I have done three with one in the middle and one at either edge but this is all about your imagination so you do what you want! You could even do one only starting half way down if you wanted.

This is my final look and the finished design and I am very happy with the finished result! It's something a bit different that will stand out but I love the effect the looping gives but feel free to experiment with this one!

So, I really hope you liked the look of some of the designs and gained any sort of inspiration from them for your holidays. Feel free to try them out and I'd love to see what designs you've made! I might do a part 2 of this in the future sometime as well if you would be interested.

Black and White Study: Edinburgh

Hey Guys!!

So this week I wanted to just do a pure photography post and so had a wee wonder around Edinburgh because it was soooo sunny! Loving the weather here at the moment cause it's still pretty chilly but there are blue skies and the sun is shining down. I decided to actually do a black and white study of Edinburgh this time which is something I had not really done before but I really enjoyed focusing more on the composition and subjects instead of the colours. There are a few pictures in here of me that, well obviously I didn't take myself, so my Dad has actually taken those particular shots and I have edited them myself! There are quite a lot of photos in this post but I hope you enjoy scrolling through them and hope you find some inspiration for your own photography or fashion etc.