Cut Out + Keep | How To

You Will Need

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Tux T Shirt

Awesome Tux T-shirt tutorial!

Hey there! This is my first tutorial. I posted my finished shirt a couple days ago and got positive feedback, so here I am!! I didn't take photos while a was making my shirt, so these drawings will have to suffice. This is a relatively easy project (though I wouldn't suggest it if you don't have a sewing machine or have never sewed before), and I hope that my directions don't confuse anyone. So, without further ado, here we go!

Sorry for the cruddy pic... it's all I got...

What to bring to the party:
1 black T-shirt
1 white T-shirt
tailors chalk or some other washable marking tool
black and white thread; sewing machine
scissors
pins

This list does not include whatever your silk screening method of choice requires.

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Get your T-shirts! These can be shirts you have that have stains on them or you can buy them new or whatever! Some words of advice: The shirts should be about the same size BUT if you want bigger lapels, get a bigger shirt. You can always trim it to fit later. Also, I have found that thin knit brands (ei expressions or other girly brand) SUCK for this project!! I highly suggest sturdy shirts such as fruit of the loom, men's t-shirts, etc. It will save you a TON of pain in the end.
Put on the black shirt. Mark a point about midway between your chest and belly button. Don't mark too low or you may not have enough fabric to complete your project. You can also make a note of where you may want to cut out the triangles in the next step.Take off. Find the midpoint of the collar and cut from the collar down the center of the shirt.Don't go past your mark.

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Pinch both ends of the cut you just made, almost folding the shirt in half. Cut the triangles out to make the lapels. You cut them both at once so that they are even. PS Don't cut through the back of the shirt...
Put on both shirts now, with the white one underneath. The lapels won't fold this nicely... but you get the idea. Make a mark at the very bottom of the lapel V. When you take the shirts off again, the white one should resemble the example on the right. This is so you don't cut the white shirt too short and have to go get another one.

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Cut the bottom of the white shirt off about 1 to 1.5 inches below that mark you just made.
Place the bottom of the white shirt (the piece you just cut off) under one of the lapels of the black shirt. At this point, arrange your lapels flat, in the position you plan on sewing them into. Note: the grey will represent the inside of the black shirt.
Cut the white fabric, following the contour of the lapel at about a half an inch distance
When you get done cutting, you should get what you see on the left. Place these back on the shirt, arranging them under the black lapels so that they line up nicely.
Pin down this configuration and sew with zigzag stitches. In the picture I show white thread so you can see the lines.
On my actual project I used all black thread, since I wanted the zigzags on the white to show. Feel free to use white if you want the stitches hidden. ;p If your shirt is too big, now is the time to sew it to fit.
All right! Hang in there! Next take the bottom of the white shirt and cut off the very bottom (including the pre-existing hem) about an inch above the hem. Cut this big ol circle into two pieces. This will go under the black sleeve ends as shown.
This step is a little difficult to show. Pin the white bit under the black sleeve ends, ling up the pre-existing hem in the white fabric to the end of the black sleeve. (If the sleeves will end up too long for your fancy, turn the black sleeves under before you pin the white undersleeve on.) When you sew these together (again, I used all black thread) don't sew all around, leave about an inch or two where the ends of white fabric come together, so you can sew a seam in the white undersleeve separately. Then continue and sew that inch or two you left open when you were sewing the black.
All right!!!! Now it's time to silkscreen that rose on there. I used the good old freezer paper and iron technique. I did and googleimage search for clipart roses, and I bought my silkscreen ink from misterart.com. BTW, no picture here cuz i went over my picture limit...
Now let that part dry. Go back to your mangled white shirt and cut off the collar.
And now grab those bits you have left of the bottom of the white shirt. Fabricate two sides of a rough collar. The size of the collar will depend on how much fabric you have left. Feel free to use all that's left of the bottom. We won't need it any more
The pink represents the inside of the white shirt. Turn what's left of your white shirt inside out and pin your collar pieces on there, aligning them the way you want them to look. Then clip the collar pieces to have the same roundedness as the shirt itself. Note: the collar only needs to extend to the shoulder seam
Sew a SMALL seam along the collar. Mine was about a quarter inch seam. I used a regular stitch here.
Flip right side out, flip collar over, and zigzag stitch down. This time I did use white thread. You may get this little lip in the middle, where the arrow is. just make sure you sew it down when you go by, so it doesn't stick up. It is only necessary to sew the collar down until you hit the shoulder seams.
And this is how it shall look. ...nevermind... I went over my pic limit so this step took one for the team. :P
Now this method my cause the collar be become a little wavy. If need be, sew a tiny dart as shown to fix the problem. I needed to do this, and it will be hidden behind your tie anyway.
Yes!!!!! Almost there!! Now go ahead and silk screen that tie on. I attempted to make the tie and the rose in my project look "cruddy" aka I tried to replicate that not-solid/vintage look. I did so by applying paint with one of those green scrubby things from the kitchen. Gotta remember to tell my room mate not to use that...
Wait till everything dries!! That's the hardest for me cuz I'm so impatient... Now, try on the white shirt under the black shirt, pin in place, take of, and sew along these red lines. This will keep your tie straight and keep everything in place. You may sew anywhere else you feel the need to in order to make these two shirts into one garment. (In black thread btw)
OMG!! Put it on! Put it on!!! XD You are done!!! Can you believe it!!?? Whew.

PS This is MY tutorial, BUT! feel free to make modifications to the steps or change things around to suit your tastes. I don't mind. In fact, if there is an easier method to a step I suggested, feel free to post it so your fellow threadbangers will have an easier time than you did : D Trust me, I made a TON of mistakes that I was able to spare you guys.