CaturDIY

To start, I'll warn you in advance and apologize for not exactly producing the most helpful how-to post here, but to prove I really am capable of making and remixing, I have titled it with the most multi-layered portmanteau I could invent! Now read on to find out what makes this post so unhelpful!

Remember when I told you I'd do a DIY post on the sad cat shirt I got at Urban Outfitters? I don't blame you; it was over half a year ago!

Since then, I actually did the DIY, and all that remained was to do the post. Well, here you go! A fascinating tutorial on turning a plain old T-shirt into something an Unfashionista might actually wear!

What I started with was your typical oversized men's T-shirt. Even at a size small, it was way too big for me to look good in! It needed some serious help.

I started by removing the sleeves (usually my first response to any T-shirt) and giving it its first trial. Classy muscle-tee look? Check!

Then, using the neckline of another, slightly more stylish T-shirt as a guide, I cut off the collar. The other one had a raw hem there, so I figured that would be good enough for this shirt!

This is what I ended up with.

Now for another trial run.

Whoa, almost looks like it has ears!

Now, this is the point in every DIY where I get frustrated by trying to get decent photos of tiny pins in black fabric in the terrible lighting of my bedroom at night and suddenly stop trying. You should be able to figure it out from here, right?

Well, in case you haven't, I'll give you a brief synopsis and one more pic.

I did leave the neckline raw, but I hemmed the shoulders.

Then, because the shirt still fit like a sack, I tailored it a bit. Normally, I tailor shirts to fit by taking in each side by a few inches. But because this shirt was so big and I'd have to take in so much of it, and because the best part was the front, and I didn't want my side seams to infringe on that, I put two equal darts in the back instead. You can kind of see them in this picture.

After putting additional seams up the back of the shirt, I had to re-cut the neckline in the back so it looked smooth again.

Then, I waited several months until I finally had the time to snap a picture of the shirt while it was on me (I wore it at least twice without this happening) as part of a reasonable everyday outfit (not as part of a "crazy cat lady" costume, which was its first public appearance).

But finally, one recent Saturday, I pulled it out of my closet, threw some leggings on under it, snapped a photo, and wore it out to Ikea.