DIY No-Sew Clothes Therapy

Whatever you do, don't throw out those clothes! If you haven't heard of no-sew, then you're going to want to gather up as many old Tees and stained clothes as possible. It takes practice, but once you get it down you're not going to ever throw away a stitch of clothing again.

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Below are links to some of my favorite no-sew tutorials. Some are a bit too wild for me to actually try- but that doesn't mean you won't love them!

No-Sew Fitted TeeShirt, So kNoty!
Very basic and good for beginners. This one is perfect for any sweet band Tees or Boyfriends (please, get permission first!) shirts that are too big to fit flatteringly.

Fingerless Gloves
No doubt if you already have done some research you've come across some fingerless gloves, but these ones have a nice funky twist to them.

Jersey Cloth Scarf
VERY easy. Go to a fabric store or use left-over jersey knit fabric and BAM you have cute and chic scarf.

Halter top From a Tee
Not for the most modest of gals out there.

Flower Corsage
Neat idea for scrap fabric.

OhMyStars: Craft! T-Shirt Surgery
Tons of tuts on how to funk up those old Tees. Most require easy sewing, but a good place to start when you're ready to level up and for ideas.

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Fabric paints, bleach, iron-on appliques (appliques are patches that are picture based and not just a flat piece of plain fabric used to cover a hole), the WORKS! They are all awesome ways to cover stains, add your unique taste to your not-so-unique clothes, and just to revamp your old clothes you don't really like anymore.

DIY Stripped T-Shirt in 3 Easy Steps
This one is just plain awesome. Bleach. Spray Bottle. Duct Tape. Complete. (Imagine all the other sweet designs you can do with this technique?)

No-Sew Embellishing: BLEACH!
The whole website is great! (Its does have a lot of pro-sewing tuts, though.) This is mostly how to free hand bleach. Great reference page for working with bleach.

Make a Sweet Stenciled T-Shirt
How to take any old image and turn it into a stencil in a few easy steps.

Painting on Fabrics and T-Shirts
A very brief look at fabric painting.

ThreadArt.com Iron on Appliques
A site with tons of appliques. You can find appliques at most craft stores, e-bay, and etsy.com as well.

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Tips from personal experience:
*ALWAYS prewash and dry fabric! NO SOFTENER! This will preshrink your clothes so your design isn't ruined. Fabric softener can affect clothes in a crazy way, and paints- forget about it! The paint will just peel right off if you don't prewash without fabric softener. It seems tidious...but do it! You'll thank me later.

*Press (iorn) your fabric. Seriously. You want a flat surface to work this on.

*If you are painting on your clothes, use a piece of cardboard in between layers of fabric. You don't want your design popping up on little areas on the back. BE CAREFUL not to over-saturate the fabric with paint and then let it dry on that cardboard. I've done this and ended up with a big piece of paper stuck on the back of my design. NOT comfy at all.

*You don't have to spend your money on fabric paints if you are an acrylic painter like myself, you can save TONS of money by simply buying a medium that can make your paints more adherent to fabric. My favorite is Liquitex Fabric Medium. It wil soften the acrylic to an extent, but don't expect it blend right into he feeling of the fabric. You can water the acrylics down and use the medium, but expect bleeding. I have recently bought Softe Fabric Paint by Tullip, and I love it!

*Invest in some fabric pens if you become serious about it. It'll become so valuable to you. I also recently purchased a colorless blending fabric pen that I can't wait to get my hands on.