TURTLENECK TO VEE

A while back, someone gave DH a tie-dyed mock turtleneck shirt. He wasn't too thrilled with it, but I thought it was cool, and, lucky me! after a few washings it no longer fit DH, but was just my size.

The only thing was, the style wasn't really flattering. I decided to change it from a mock turtleneck to a vee-neck. Then, after I was all finished, I decided it might be nice to share the transformation. After it was finished. No process photos!

So I did the first part on another turtle, with photos, and took pictures of the last steps and finished shirt of the tie-dye.

Here's how:

Start by cutting the collar off a turtleneck shirt. Leave the serged edge on the shirt. That gives you a finished edge that won't fray, and isn't raw.



Cut Off the Collar


Now fold the shirt exactly in half, lengthwise, matching side and shoulder seams. You want to be very careful here, or your center cut will run off askew, and your new neckline along with it.

Figure out how deep (low) you want the vee to be. You could try the shirt on 5" (12.7cm) seemed right for me. Mark that point, then carefully cut straight down from the center of the old neckline to the mark.










Turn the shirt inside-out, and turn the edges of your downward cut back until you have a straight line on each side that ends at the shoulder seam.



Turn back the edges


Pin them in place and turn the shirt right side out. Embroider a running stitch near the edge of the vee with heavy coordinating floss, and add a couple of buttons to finish it off.



Gotta cut that label out, lol


That's it. You've converted a turtleneck shirt to a vee-neck.

Now, if you'd like to have some more fun, you can do the same with the sleeves. Truthfully, I'm scrambling to get ready for the Cracked Pots Garden Art Show at McMennamins Edgefield, with set-up happening tomorrow, so I didn't complete the sleeves, but I did get a good start.

If your shirt has sewn-on cuffs, you can cut them off just as you did the collar, again leaving the serged edge on. Decide where you want the sleeve to be slit. I decided on the outer arm, rather than at the top or bottom of the wrist, for instance. Create a vee just the way you did at the neckline, but not so deep, maybe 3" (7.6cm), turn back the flaps, embroider, and trim with a button.

Voila! You now have a vee-neck shirt with 3/4 length slashed sleeves!



Doing the same to the sleeves