sew-off challenge: Upcycle a Flashback Skinny Tee
rocky start to kcwc and the sew-off, you guys, rocky start.
before i started sewing today, i changed my serger thread from white (what i always serge with) to black. i don’t change my serger thread very often, so when the threads were all wonky, i thought it was because i’d done something wrong. after nearly an hour of threading and rethreading, i realized…wait for it…i had lifted my presser foot up to rethread and forgot to put it back down! oof, no wonder the fabric wouldn’t feed through! anyway, once i figured that out, this little shirt came together in a snap.
behold the daring fireball upcycled tee. my husband follows tech news like other guys follow football. one of his favorite sites for info on apple and other techie stuff is daring fireball. the site is widely read among those that follow that sort of thing, but pretty obscure in our day-to-day lives (kinda like me with sewing blogs!), and it has a really cool and simple design to it. my husband pretty much wore this t-shirt until it couldn’t be worn anymore (by him). so off it went into my upcycle pile for the boy!
i used his t-shirt for the body plus a slightly lighter gray tank top that my sister gave me for the bindings (she just moved back to town after finishing up school and was doing deep cleaning). the pattern is rae’s flashback skinny tee in 18-24 months.
then i let the little guy play with our first iPod and iPhone for a bit (both still work).
no multi-touch on that sucker, buddy!
**check out rae’s ADORABLE flashback skinny tee upcycle (with peter pan collar!) right here!**
skirt as top 
Look how ancient and clunky those devices look. Look how cute and squeezable O looks.
Something like this happened to me too! So, I had noticed that my machine was slow when I turned it on, but quickly picked up after a few stitches or so. It needs servicing, I thought, but did not do much more about it since it worked every time. It so happens that today it would not pick up—slow, slow, slow, dragging all the way. “Here goes my kcwc dream!” I thought. I got the manual out… Long story short, I cleaned the lint and oiled it and now it’s working great, but the whole process took at least thirty-forty minutes!
*deep breath* thanks for letting me vent.
Your tee is gorgeous! And it fits O so well! I bet Dad liked this project a lot 🙂 great job on your first day!!
thanks! oh yeah, i had the manual out too, i was adjusting all sorts of stuff, getting super frustrated. i think i finally walked away and came back, then noticing the lever was up. *forehead slap!*
Ha ha, too funny! I hate changing my serger thread, too… Glad you figured it out, the top is awesome!
Love the two tone gray look!
You may already know this trick, but I felt like I learned it really late for all the years I’d been using a serger and didn’t think to use the old thread to pull the new thread through. Makes changing the thread 1 or 2 minutes for me rather than the old 10-15 minutes it used to take.
http://projectsbyjess.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-change-serger-thread.html
Can’t wait to see the rest of your stuff!
oooh i haven’t gotten a chance to watch the video yet but is this the “knot each thread with the new color and it’ll feed right through” method??? i vaguely remember seeing that before when i didn’t have a serger. genius!
I’ve done that before with my serger, lol! I love the greys together!
It looks awesome, Kristin!! Sorry about the serger, though, that kind of thing happens to me often. I sewed on my serger for weeks with the threads kinda wonky, figured it was on its way out, shopped for a new upgraded one, then changed out some thread and realized it was because I had two different brands of thread on there. simple fix – I have to say I was pretty bummed to solve that one, I almost had that new serger in my hands!! btw, you roped me in. I’m joining in, at least in part. Thanks for the motivation and your cool kickoff project!
woohoo! can’t wait to see your projects! and yeah, i almost thought it was just the thread, too – brother machines can be really finicky about that.
Cute! Love the grays and the star symbol (of course) – though I had no clue what Daring Fireball was. I made a FBST in the same size today too! Love that pattern 🙂
Very cute! This is on my list to make this week too! I bought the pattern, finally! Can’t wait to try it out!
A perfect fit! 🙂
Weren’t you one of the kniterviewees? 😉 I have done this myself before, so frustrating. Another tip – always check the differential feed. Didn’t have good results when I forgot that. O looks very cute in the top and I think you’re beating Rae at the moment.
haha yes i totally was a kniterviewee! guess i should’ve covered “presser foot position replacement,” eh? 😉
Lovely T-Shirt and what a great way to upcycle Dad’s favourite T-Shirt. I’ve spent so many hours fighting with my serger. I think it doesn’t exclusively feed fabric, time, too.
Cute, cute, cute! Can you believe that our original iPod still works!!??
so does ours! but i could barely remember how to use it anymore! no click wheel, even. haha.
Cute! I love gray on my guy too…. And vans 🙂
Great tee – but I did just giggle aloud re the overlocker issue!
I didn’t now about that site, but I love the idea of using a tech nerd shirt for the little ones. That whole threading blunder sounds like it came straight out of my playbook. haha! How fun dragging out the old apple technology. I let Clover play with our old U2 iPod classic one day. It seems like they came out a million years ago.
I haven’t used my serger in months because Violet messed with it and changed all my knob settings, followed by her yanking the thread out of it. It’s daunting to figure out the threading again, so I have been putting it off. Lame.
I feel like it’s those etsy buttons you can get – “i’d rather be kissing my crafty wife” // “i’d rather be smooching my techie husband.” somehow crafty gals and tech nerds go together a lot, it seems! 😉
The hubby HAS to be jealous! 🙂 Glad your machine drama worked itself out.
so cute! I was sewing a shirt too but after dark, so no pics until later today!
totally cute. And the graphic would have been equally cool/appropriate without the techie association!
i was wondering where O got sthis shirt! great job, he is having fun looking at himself!
daddy dressed him today, too! SCORE!!! 😉
Love it, Kristin! Great work. On my list for today is a long sleeved FBST; It suddenly got cold here! Thanks to you, I think I’ll raid my hubby’s castoff pile. 🙂
that kid is the cutest! and that’s a great little shirt. his daddy must be lovin’ it. the gray on gray is perfect!
aw thanks, gail!
Love a good upcycling project! it must feel great to see your little man in his dady´s t shirt. He´s gorgeous!
His belly is so cute in that shirt:).
Well now I should probably change the “Darling” to “Daring” on the off chance someone from the DF sees it, eh? *le sigh*
🙂
That shirt is great! Wonderful post, congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Love the shirt!
Darling/daring fireball! Love it. I hate those evenings spent trouble-shooting a problem that does not exist. I think we all have them.
This looks so cute! You can tell he is an IT guy in the making.
wow you really have some talent!! he looks so cute in that shirt 🙂
So cute! I have a bunch of old tees. I should give this pattern a try.
I love his outfit! So cute!
sweeeeeeeetttt…. love it …great skills….. and he looks so adorable 🙂
Yeah, old Ipods had there charm, but I have not seen one in YEARS! Until now that is! O looks great in his skinny T! I love that little round belly… Sephira has a matching one too! What a little sweetheart!
when I saw this on instagram I totally looked it up. I love your sense of humor. Darling shirt/boy/toddler tummy.