The Walking Dead Shirt Gets A New Life

Michelle had come over to my house one weekend to help me organize my scrap fabric. As you can imagine, with all of this sewing there is quite a bit! I had just finished one project and was gearing up to move on to the next. I had this shirt pattern, and the pattern says it’s best to make out of jersey knit. I mentioned it to Michelle and she had an idea!

She had an old t shirt that I had bought her while I was on vacation, years ago. When I bought it, I was buying several t shirts, and grabbed the wrong size for her. Of course I didn’t realize it until I got home. But Michelle wore the shirt, and slept in the shirt, but it had since been retired to the back of her drawer.

She liked the shirt so much, she had the great idea to use it to make the blouse!

Here’s Michelle in the over sized shirt before I started cutting on it.

If you’re looking closely to see what’s on the shirt, it says, “Welcome to scenic Woodbury, A Walker Free Community”. If you’re a fan of “The Walking Dead” you’ll recognize this place from season three. Being a big fan of the show, Michelle wasn’t ready to let this shirt go!

Years before Mia and I had flown out to Georgia to see Loretta Lynn in concert. That’s a whole other story, but while we were there, we went to the town of Senoia, Georgia, where much of “The Walking Dead” was filmed. Other things have been filmed there, another notable mention is the movie, “Fried Green Tomatoes”.

At the time of our visit, “The Walking Dead” filming was in full swing, so the town was full of “Walking Dead” sites and memorabilia.

Here’s Mia, standing in the center of town.

Since other family members, besides Michelle, were fans of the show, we spent a lot of time in here, buying souvenirs.

When Michelle brought her shirt over to the house we both noticed that, like many loved and frequently worn t shirts, it had gotten pilly.

Never fear though! Michelle also had this neat little clothes shaver. So the first thing we did was to shave her shirt!

I laid one pattern piece over the shirt. It came up short in the corners, but I figured I would work around that. How do you work around missing fabric? I didn’t know but felt confident that I’d figure it out!

I quickly realized that I was going to be short more fabric than just a little bit in the pattern corners. This pattern had a yoke piece that I didn’t have enough of Michelle’s t shirt left to cut up and make. Luckily I had some light blue jersey knit, so I decided to mix and match it.

Pinning the yoke sections to the front and back of the shirt.

Getting ready to very carefully sew it. I hate working with stretchy fabric like jersey knit. I sew slow so it doesn’t move around on me!

Our refashion worked, don’t be too shocked!

Michelle took the opportunity to wear it out one weekend to visit the Halloween store, and to the movies.

I really like how this shirt turned out! I love turning something old into something new!

I think it looks great on Michelle and is a really fun twist on a traditional t shirt.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the theaters…….

Which is the movie that Michelle and Joey were out and about to see! No movie is complete without popcorn!

Joey and Michelle goofing around and sending me funny pics instead of serious blog ones! I told her I would use it, she should know I wasn’t joking! HA!

The t shirt refashion was a great idea on Michelle’s part. I love it when she or Elizabeth comes up with something I didn’t think of! Guess that’s why they’re my think tank!

Michelle is going to get so much more use out of her shirt. She can enjoy it for many years to come! Guess it’s the gift that keeps on giving! HA!

Be open to the ideas of others, and don’t be afraid to do something that isn’t quite what the pattern called for. In sewing and in life! I’m always learning, and if you have an idea for an up cycle, let me know in the comments!

As for me, onto the next!