How to take in a T-shirt!!

I have been asked several times how I manage to get band t-shirts I buy at gigs to fit me, answer is I buy the closest to my size then take it in!

I thought this would make a great feature for Sugar paper #15, T-Shirt alteration, but seeing as 'make a back patch from your old/non fitting band t-shirts' is the most popular blog post we have done, I figured everyone would want to know.

So here it is....

You will need:
- A t-shirt you already own that is the perfcet fit
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Stitch unpicker
- Tailors chalk/pencil
- Pins

1. Take the tee you want to adjust and turn inside out. Unpick the sleeves from the tee and put aside.

2. Lay the old tee on top of the tee you’re adjusting. Line up necks and trace the line of the armholes on your old tee. Then mark down the sides to get the correct width. Lastly mark on the length across the bottom.

3. Trim the armholes. The trim the length leaving 1”/2.5cm below the line you marked for the hem.

4. Using straight stitch, sew along the lines you marked down the sides of the tee.

5. Trim the excess off the sides and overstitch with a zing-zag stitch.

6. If the sleeves are too long trim them to the required length (again leaving 1”/2.5cm for a hem.

7.Unpick the sleeve seam.

8. With the tee still inside out, pin the sleeve to the arm hole. Have the sleeve’s right side facing you (so when you pin it the right sides of the sleeve dn the tee will be facing) tuck into the arm hole. Start pinning at the top of armhole (on the shoulder)

9. You may have excess sleeve in the armpit area. Start from this point and straight stitch together until you get back to the armpit/side seam.

10. Pull the sleeve out of the armhole (so the tee and sleeve are facing you both are inside out) Stitch the sleeve seam, cut off the excess.

11. Overstitch with a zig-zag stitch along the armhole join and sleeve seam. Now repeat for the other sleeve.

12. Overstitch with a zig-zag stitch along the bottom of the tee. With the tee still inside out, fold the bottom up 1”/2.5cm, pin, then straight stitch down (close to the bottom edge) to create a hem. Straight stitch again closer to the bottom edge (so when it is turned the right way out you have two rows of stitch!)

13. For the sleeve edge you can do the same as step 12, or for a capped sleeve look, turn the tee the right way out, leave the raw edge, fold the edge in around ½”/1.5cm, do this again and pin on the sleeve top and the armpit. Do a few stitches at bot these points.

14. Press and enjoy your new perfect fit t-shirt!

 

This will also be in issue #15 of Sugar Paper along with lot's of other great stuff like crumpet and jam recipes, knitted sunglasses case, weaving and much more!

Inspiring Sugar Paper #15

It's summer and Sugar Paper 15 is not out yet (or even halfway done, oops!) but here is what we have been (slowly) inspired by.....

May: birthdays, bands and from A(rt)- Z(ines)

What the fuck is that title?!?!?

ANYWAY as mentioned in the previous post I love May, but holy fuck where did it go?!?1 how is it June already? WHERE IS THE SUN!?!?

I started May in Amsterdam and ended it completely tired out on my sofa, but I had the best time.

I (again see previous post) had all the birthday fun (and received my last birthday present last week, love to drag my birthday out for the whole month!), but the fun didn't stop there!

Here is what I got up to in May.....

I visited the new home of The Cornerhouse, HOME, several times. twice for the cinema (Girlhood= so good and Clouds of Sils Maria= I love you Kstew!) and last week I checked out the two exhibitions on there at the moment.
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (that I was alerted to several times by friends as I have a tattoo of those words, I was a teenage JT Leroy fan, what can I say!) is a collection of works by several artists centring around the theme of love and loss.
My favourite pieces were Douglas Coupland's 'Slogans for the 21st Century', 148 pigment prints on watercolour paper with bold slogans on, a lot about the internet.

Irina Gheorge's piece, John, you Like Her, Don't You? 1994-1996, stood out as it featured a framed poster of 90s Mark Owen (with his nose ring and all), now I am NOT a Take That fan, but this piece was great. it Was a selection of her notebook entries she made with a friend about the 100 hottest boys in their school. My favourite bit was where she said she wanted to throw something at Robbie's head as she thinks he is the reason TT split up and how is solo career is shit HAHAHAHAH!).

My favourite in the whole exhibition though was Gemma Parker's The Tattooed Lady. It's an oldschool vending machine that dispenses a temporary tattoo when you turn the handle. Each tattoo has a story on the back. The design relating to a tattoo that people have regretted! So good!

There is also a Magda Archer exhibition on, #givemeverythingandnnothingbaby . Featuring paintings and posters that show our love/hate relationship with the internet!

Birthday's are big business in May, it seems like 80% of the people I know are born in May, September must be a popular month for parents to be getting jiggy with it! Anyway this meant I consumed lots of cake in May, and that's always a good thing.

My sister was up for her birthday which was nice. On her actual birthday though I went to see The Julie Ruin.
Now that morning I woke up in a bad mood (tiredness and moontime combo) then I went to work and working Saturdays is never fun. After work I hot footed it over to Leeds, trying to make myself feel excited.
I got to the Brudenell and got excited about seeing a bunch of my favourites and faces I haven't seen for a while. the excitement still didn't kick in. I spoke with a friend and we decided it was because we were just not that into The Julie Ruin album. A couple of friends I was with were excited to see Kathleen perform for the first time so I tried to steal some of their excitement.
The band came on and it was great to see Kathleen do her thing again for the first time in ten years, it was good to see Kenny on stage again for the first time in 13 years and to FINALLY see Kathi on stage for the first time ever. They played a mixture of songs from the new album, some Le Tigre tracks and Kathleen's solo Julie Ruin album (which I absolutely love) some of the versions of those songs they played I was not so sure about. The crowd had a few idiots in it, people who don't know about personal space and one idiot who was super drunk and it seemed managed to annoy everyone I spoke to at the gig, he made his way to the front and called some women 'fucking stupid cunts' so we all decided it was time to leave and chucked him to the bag of the venue where someone I know turfed him out! that sucked, but the song they played after this was Radical or Pro Parental and I had much love for that!
I had fun, they are a party band, and the whole show was like a works of Kathleen Hanna cabaret and I am glad I got to see them, but I didn't leave sweaty, with a stitch and feeling like I could take over the world (I decided it was because I was getting old!)

A few days later saw me heading to London to see Babes In Toyland!!!!

I had excitement for this. I had seen Kat perform in Katastrophy Wife and As Babes (with members of Angelica!?!?) before, but never Babes In Toyland themselves.
We Missed Skating Polly (boo) but made it in time to get a good spot for Babes, squashed in between the dreads, babydolls and punks, the room smelt of patchouli and old clothes, 90s heaven!
The moment they hot the stage I didn't stop and neither did the crowd! Everyone went wild, moving, jumping dancing, every song I was in a different place in the venue, at one point I was stood next to some people from Manchester, another point in the pit, then three rows away from Maureen. IT WAS SO GOOD!
All the hits, so much noise, Lori's drumming SWOON and Kat's voice still has it!
At one point I was experiencing some Gregg Araki film shit, I was close to the front dancing away, to my left some attractive guy with long hair was throwing his pint, to my right a woman in a pink faux fur gilet was dancing like she was listening to techno, behind me a couple were having almost full on sex to Maureen's bass lines and I thought IS THIS WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO ATTEND A GIG IN 1995?!?!

I left the gig on a total high, I haven't been to a gig like that in years. The next day however my body ACHED. I hoped on the train back home to do it all again!

Manchester was a much smaller venue, the crowd wasn't as wild (which my aching body was thankful for!) but it was twice as loud! I got to see Skating Polly (who were so good) and no middle support so babes were on just after 9. They looked happy to be playing, I saw more of my favourites (being spoilt this year!) and met an internet friend for the first time IRL. the gig finished just after ten, my ears were ringing and I had some tasty peri peri chips. both nights were some of my best gigs ever!

Band reunions 4eva, roll on L7!

I had a couple of days to try and ease my achey body and catch up on sleep before tabling at NorthWest zine fest in Manchester.

This was such a fun day, chatting to out of town friends, making new ones, seeing a bunch of amazing zines in one room and being inspired to want to make a million more zines!

Well done to the Salford Zine Library guys for organising such a great day!
Ahhh May you were good to me, now I must spend June doing nothing but sleeping!