How to alter an oversized youth shirt

Our local YMCA offers several sports for young kids, and I try my best to sign my boys up for every opportunity. So far, my five year old has played basketball and two seasons of soccer. T-Ball starts later this month for both my five year old and three year old. There's just one problem - the smallest t-shirt size they provide team members is a youth small.

A youth small is much too large for kids that typically wear shirts any smaller than about a youth 7 or 8. My five year old currently wears 5T shirts, and he was drowning in his newest soccer shirt!

I alter his shirts each time, and decided to share a tutorial this time so you can do it too!

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you're new here, hello! I'm Laura! I design quilt patterns, and I'm a self-proclaimed deal hunter! Be sure to join the popular Quilting & Sewing Deals Facebook group where I post sales, deals, and coupon codes from all around the web!

Please note: I do not own a serger, so I just use my regular sewing machine, regular cotton thread, and regular stitching. This means the seams are not stretchy and the stitches/thread can break if stretched too hard. If you own a serger, you can serge all the seams in the tutorial instead (except for the bottom rolled hem). You could also use a zig zag stitch to give a bit more stretch if you wanted.

What you need: The shirt you want to alter, a shirt that fits well, sewing machine (or serger), thread, scissors or rotary cutter

Turn the shirt you want to alter inside out. Use scissors or a rotary cutter to cut off the sleeves just outside the seam.

If the neck opening is too large, stitch along both top shoulders. Stitch no more than 1/2" from the current seam on each side, then try the shirt on to see if it needs a bit more (or less). Be sure to backstitch to reinforce the stitches along the neck opening.

Once satisfied with the size of the neck opening, cut away excess fabric along the shoulders, leaving about 1/4" of fabric beyond the new seam.

Next, lay the shirt that fits on top of the shirt you are altering, lining up the shoulders. Cut from the bottom of the shirt to the armpit, 1/2" away from the pattern shirt. Repeat on the other side.

Fold the pattern shirt sleeves back, and cut 1/2" away from the sleeve seam.

Lay the pattern shirt sleeve on top of the sleeve pieces. Cut any excess off the bottom of the sleeve. Be sure to leave about 1/2" extra to account for the seams. (Note: You can measure the sleeves along the top edge to check the sleeve length. I did not remove any extra fabric off the sleeves this time. If you want to shorten the sleeves, remember to leave 1/2" extra for the seams.)

Open the main body of the shirt and sleeve pieces. Place the pieces right sides together, matching up the center of the sleeve piece with the shoulder seam.

Begin stitching at the shoulder seam and stitch to the end of the sleeve piece. Move and stretch the fabric as needed to keep the edges lined up.

Turn the shirt over, start again at the same shoulder seam, and stitch the rest of the sleeve. (Exact seams are not required. Sewing with knit is quite forgiving!)

Repeat with the other sleeve.

Fold shirt right sides together, lining up sleeve edges. (Note: I sewed one sleeve inside out and had to rip it out and re-do it after I was all done. This is where you "do as I say, not as I do.")

Starting at the sleeve opening, stitch to the armpit. Be sure to backstitch to reinforce the stitches at the sleeve opening.

Pivot at the armpit and stitch to the bottom of the shirt.

Repeat on the other side.

Lay the pattern shirt on top of the shirt again, lining up the shoulders. Trim excess fabric off the bottom of the shirt, leaving at least 1" beyond the bottom of the pattern shirt.

Starting at a side seam, fold the bottom fabric edge up about 1/2", then fold over another 1/2" to create a rolled hem.

Stitch along the edge. Continue to roll the hem as you stitch all the way around the shirt.

I chose to stitch a second line about 1/8" under the first line on this shirt. Totally optional, but it does seem to add a bit more strength to the bottom seam.

While inside-out, use scissors to clip the fabric at the armpit. Just a single cut up to the stitches.

Turn the shirt right side out and compare to your pattern shirt to see how well you did!

Here is the soccer shirt I altered last season.

I'm sure I'll have a couple more to alter later this month when t-ball season starts!

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts, Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF at Celtic Thistle Stitches, and Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting.

__________

If you liked this post, you may also like these:

Teaching at MO Star Academy

DIY Solar Eclipse T-Shirt Tutorial

LSU T-Shirt Quilt