Add a Hood to Any Shirt
It’s my firm belief that nearly any shirt would be improved by the addition of a hood. Here’s how to add a hood to nearly any shirt! The trick is to choose a hood fabric that’s ideally the same type of fabric as the shirt/sweatshirt, or maybe just a little bit thinner.
Hemmed Pants
This is one of the most basic, but also most essential, clothing alteration projects that you can master. Store-bought pants rarely turn out to be the perfect length right off the hanger, but being able to hem them is an easy way to turn them into the perfect pair of pants. You do need a buddy for this, since it requires some hands-on tailoring.
Hidden Side Pocket
You KNOW you wish that all your clothes had pockets. Here’s how to make it happen… at least with clothes that have side seams. Skirts and dresses are especially good candidates for this type of alteration.
Lace-up Sweatshirt Collar
This alteration can correct a too-snug collar on your sweatshirt, or just make it look cuter! Definitely don’t skimp on the wide-gauge eyelets, as they make the project look tidy and professional. The ribbon that you use for lacing up the neck is another place where you can customize!
Leather Elbow Patches
If you need a patch to be SUPER sturdy, there’s no substitute for leather/faux leather. Even denim will wear and fray, but not leather! Check out thrift stores or yard sales for old leather purses or clothing to scavenge your scraps from.
Patch Pocket
A patch pocket is one of my favorite clothing alterations, because you can put it in pretty much anything! I really like to add patch pockets to tunics and leggings, because even when you want to be cozy, you still need pockets.
Shorts from Pants
Starting with a well-fitting pair of pants is a terrific “short”cut (see what I did there, lol?) to a well-fitting pair of shorts, but cutting them off and hemming them requires a lot of attention to detail. But if you’re careful and work slowly, you’ll love your new shorts!
Wider Waist
Think that you can only alter clothes to be smaller, not larger? Think again! This project is suitable for a confident beginner who isn’t afraid to experiment.
Bell Bottoms
Okay, they’re not the most practical pants in the world, but they’re so, so fun! There are a couple of good ways to alter regular-leg pants into bell bottoms, but this particular method is my favorite.
Customized Converse
Boring Converse don’t have to STAY boring. Adding cute fabric to the tongue of your Converse changes up the look and customizes them for your unique personality.
Dye Jeans Darker
While dyeing jeans lighter is more of a process, dyeing them darker is fairly fool-proof and beginner-friendly. Just be mindful that if you’re dyeing your jeans because you want to cover a stain, the dye may not attach to the stain the way it attaches to the unstained fabric. But hey, your stained jeans will be DARKER stained jeans, so that’s still something!
Galaxy Shirt
I know that galaxy clothing was more popular a few years ago than it is now, but hey, what else are you going to do with that black T-shirt that you accidentally got bleach on? Might as well lean in and make yourself a whole universe!
Illustrated Tights
One of my kids took ballet her entire childhood, so I know my way around tights. There are the fresh, clean tights that you take out of the package for performances, soon to be downgraded to the dingy workhorse tights that you wear for class, eventually to become the ripped tights that you toss or save for nights out clubbing. At some point in that cycle, here’s how to rescue a pair and turn it into living art. P.S. Do YOU have a favorite way to alter your clothing? Tell us about it in the Comments!
