How To Make A Big Shirt Smaller - Melly Sews

Have a shirt that’s too big? With this DIY tutorial, learn how to easily make a big shirt smaller.

Hey y’all, today I’m going to share how to make a shirt smaller. I have a cousin that a see a few times a year, and like me she has short girl problems, so I showed her the useful trick I’m also sharing with y’all today.

Before we go any further – this tutorial involves sewing. I’m sorry to say that any tutorial that tells you you can take a 100% cotton too big t-shirt and significantly change the size through hot water in the washing machine or drying on high heat to create shrinkage is probably lying. The vast majority of t-shirts manufactured in the U.S. currently are pre-shrunk, so you can boil your large shirt and it’s still not going to come out much smaller. And that doesn’t even account for the fact that a huge amount of t-shirts aren’t even 100% cotton, so many have polyester or rayon or both added to the fiber blend.

Once you learn how to tailor shirts, you don’t have to settle for that boxy unisex fit on any of your tees. In fact, because I can customize the fit of my shirts like this, I often buy shirts bigger on purpose. That way I can get the neckline I want and the shape and ease I want through specific areas for a more flattering and comfortable fit. My wardrobe is full of customized graphic tees like the one below.

I started with an oversized shirt above. Next, I modified the neckline to scoop it out more. I added a contrast neckband at the same time as I changed it to a more fitted garment that still has a relaxed silhouette.

Materials Needed for This Project

To make your tee smaller, here are the supplies you’ll need:

• A tee that fits the way you want as a sample, or a sewing pattern that you can use to tailor your bigger tee. Basically this is easiest when you have a size/fit reference to use.
• Scissors
• Sewing machine and basic notions – thread, needles, etc. Your sewing machine will need to be able to sew a stretch stitch; if it can do a zig-zag stitch you’re good. You can see more about stretch stitches here.

How to Resize Your T-shirt

Watch the video tutorial below, or on YouTube here to see how to do this. And if you prefer a written tutorial, scroll past the video.

Tailor Your Shirt Smaller

So, to start you need a top that you like the fit of to compare with your too big top, or else you need a pattern you’ve sewn and like the fit of. This tutorial will use another shirt, but the steps are the same when using a pattern – either the shirt or pattern is a guide for where to remove excess fabric.

Lay them out flat as shown below, making sure to match the centers of the shirts.

Use your shirt as a guideline to cut the sides and armholes of the the bigger shirt. Fold your sleeves in to see the shape of the armholes, and make sure to leave yourself a big seam allowance. Once you have a general shape, fold the bigger shirt in half and make sure both sides of the front are symmetrical and that both sides of the back are symmetrical. This usually involves trimming your seam allowance down a little, which is why you leave a big one to begin with.

Next, use the sleeves of your tee to cut down the sleeves of the bigger shirt – I like to keep the finished hems so I don’t have to redo them. Use a measuring tape to make sure the length of your sleeve cap is going to match the length of your armhole before cutting.

Attach the sleeves to the armholes as shown above. Use a stretch stitch, not a straight stitch, or you risk popped stitches when you put your shirt on.

Then fold the t-shirt right sides together and sew the underarm and side seams, again using a stretch stitch.

If desired, cut the t-shirt shorter and hem it using a hem appropriate for knits.

And done! Go from schlumpy to a more flattering t-shirt fit!