How to Salvage a Stained Shirt

How many of you have favorite tees or shirts that have gotten stained right on the front, yet you just can't bring yourself to throw it away? You can't hide it under a jacket or coat because the stain shows blaringly on the front- a testament to your messy eating habits. Well that's true in my case at least.

One of my favorites in particular is a super soft, white t-shirt from Kohls that fits perfectly. It doesn't cling and doesn't lose it's shape, no matter how often I wear it! So imagine my distress when drinking my coffee, I was distracted by some major love drama between 2 young people and spilled coffee all down the front of my shirt! *sigh* I suppose it serves me right for being nosy and listening to their drama. Although, they must not have been concerned about privacy since they were playing out said drama in the middle of Starbucks! Anwyays.. moving on.

No matter how hard I scrubbed or how many times I sent it round the wash cycle with a double load of Oxy Clean, the stubborn stain stayed! Therefore, I had an idea! Why not use extra material and accents to cover the stain and create a cute, one of a kind t-shirt in the process?

And so, good people, using a few basic supplies I was able to salvage my favorite tee and make it into something unique within a matter of minutes. And since I was pleased with the results, I thought I would share the how-to on this DIY project!

Here's what you'll need:

1 t-shirt (stained or not... your preference!)
scrap of colorful material
accents (such as strand of sequins, etc)
scissors
pins
stitch-witchery (a.k.a. the best invention ever known to man)





1) Start off by ironing your shirt. Cut the material to the desired width. I chose to cut my material to about 7 inches wide and lay it from my neckline to the hem of the shirt. I was hoping the long pattern would draw attention down the one, skinny strip in the middle and create the appearance of a long, lean center. (Stop laughing, please. It actually did make it flattering, though long and lean are still not 2 words you would use to describe my body.)

2)Next, line up the material along the hem and pin in place if necessary. This will give you an even base from which to pull and stretch the material tightly along the sides. Using a long strip of Stitch Witchery, iron the material flush with the hem. If you've never used Stitch Witchery, it's really simple and cheap. Just follow the directions on the package. As you iron, remove the pins from the material.

3) Follow the directions above for ONE of the sides of the material. Leave it plenty long around the neckline.

4)Pinning the other side, start trimming the extra material around the neck. If you are using a v-neck tee, make one long cut towards the V. Then fold the excess material around to the inside of the neck. Pin and then turn inside out. Proceed in using the Stitch Witchery to "sew" the material into the neck of the shirt.

5) Once the bottom, side and neck are complete, then you can move on to the last side of material. Stretch it tight so you lose any wrinkles in the material. (Hint: don't use cotton on cotton, it sticks to badly and is hard to pull tight.) Once it is in place, iron it shut with the Stitch Witchery. (isn't that fun to say? lol)

6) You should have a long, rectangular piece of material now attached from neck to hem. Using your accents (I used long strips of oversized sequins) you can attach those down the sides of the material. It also will help cover any wonky lines in the material you might have gotten as you ironed it down. Use Stitch Witchery for this too. Make sure to let the towel cool and use caution when peeling it off. The sequins can stick to the towel and you don't want to pull them off as you lift the towel.

7) NOTE: When ironing on sequins or anything plastic, fold a thick kitchen towel in two and hold over the sequins as you iron. Since they are so thin, you will only need to hold the iron in place for a few seconds. This will help the sequins be attached but they wont' melt or lose their shape. HOWEVER... if you want to create a slightly different look, don't double the towel and let the iron sit there for a good 15 minutes. It helps the sequins melt and mold together, creating almost a shiny, rubber affect. And I totally did NOT find that out by accident when I got distracted and left the iron on for too long. *clears throat*




Hmmm... since my pants are on fire (liar, liar) I will confess and say I did in fact slightly melt one small group of sequins. But I liked how it looked, so I melted them some more and proceeded to do it the all the rest of them as well. And I really think it looks cool and unique. Plus since I'm constantly snagging my clothes, now I dont have to worry about one stray sequin popping off or anything when I run into something. Which I most undoubtedly will at some point when wearing this shirt.

8) When you're finished, just let it cool completely. You'll want to stop and try the shirt on several times as you do the project- making sure it fits properly and the material doesn't bunch when you put it on. If you don't feel secure enough with the Stitch Witchery, run over all the seams quickly with your sewing machine and voila! YOu now have your very own custom-designed, one of a kind, unique t-shirt.

Personally, I'll be wearing mine this spring with a long black boho skirt, sandals, and chunky jewelry!!! :)

Good luck!