DIY Cutsews/Modifying a T-shirt

End Result of Tutorial #2
End Result of Tutorial #1
Ciao Dears! In this post i'll show you what a cutsew is and how to make your own! Let's start!
What is a cutsew?
"A Cutsew (or Cutsaw) is a garment that is styled like a blouse or dress shirt, yet is made out of jersey (a fabric commonly used to make t-shirts) and can feature embellishments such as lace. The term is commonly used when pertaining to the Lolita fashion, since this type of garment is common in the fashion." (Source- Wikipedia)
In Layman's terms it's a T-shirt restyled to look like a blouse. Commonly worn in place of a blouse in hotter weather, cutsews can be a staple of Lolita or Princessy fashion.
Brand Examples of Cutsews-
An Angelic Pretty Cutsew
A Baby the Stars Shine Bright cutsew with a printed design
Angelic Pretty's Happy Garden cutsew with a bottom print
An Old OLD Tutorial of mine- Modifying a T-Shirt:
So back on my old blog I had a tutorial on this subject, but I since deleted my old posts (as I was a majour weeaboo *cringe*). But I still have the pictures, so here's my older tutorial. If you'd rather see the new one, just scroll down.
Original T Shirt


Basically all those "so sophisticated" paint graphics were trying to explain how to make puffed sleeves by threading elastic through the pre-existing hem on the sleeve. 
 This part is trying to explain that to make trumpet sleeves I used a different fabric, sewed it into a open rectangle, hemmed one side. Basically I made a sleeve.
 Here I was trying to illustrate sewing the other fabric onto the sleeve on the inside.
The finished Product. Pretty simple. I remember how I totally loved this T-shirt and ended up wearing it as a nightgown a lot.

Finally, the new tutorial!
Using this T-Shirt as a base, I already puffed the sleeves with elastic.
And...
Using an old blouse!
First lay out your blouse and draw where you intend to cut, make sure to include a hem.
Cut it out and lay it on your t-shirt. I chose to level the back since it already had a nice seam.

If it looks nice, take it off the t-shirt and hem the raw edges, Also try to sew the bottom closed so you can still use the top buttons but it has some closure on the bottom. Then sew on your desired lace or other hem decouration.
                                                                           
And done, however if you want it to stay more firmly, sew on either snap fasteners or velcro.
I know this method isn't as fancy as the examples but it's great if its too hot to wear a blouse!
You can add other decourations to this as well.
Other Cutsew Tutorials
A better version of what I did
Sailour Style
Printed Cutsew
Classical Sweater Reconstruction
If I did this Project again I would: Iron the shirt piece. And add at least velcro to hold it in place.
Thanks for reading!


1 Comments

Type your thoughts here!