Tips for Recycling Knit Shirts

For some time now, I've been holding on to a stack of long-sleeved knit turtleneck tees, mockneck tees, and fing guage sweaters that belonged to either me, my mom, or my husband--all with the intentions of someday recycling these shirts into refashioned tops for Ella. Why buy new, expensive knit fabrics when each of these old, gently worn shirts has all the fabric I need to sew my daughter a new top?

Today I'm here to give you some tips for how to recycle a gently used adult knit shirt into a new child's shirt using the Tee x 3 Pattern from Blank Slate Patterns (affiliate link).

The first Tee x 3 I sewed Ella used only the front, back, and sleeve pieces of the pattern. I saved myself time sewing by reusing elements of the existing adult sized turtleneck shirt I recycled. Here's how!

This post contains affiliate links. Although I was provided the pattern at no cost in exchange for my review, all opinions given are my own.

Clean Slate Shorts for School

School has been in full swing here now for almost two months, and this year, Ella started kindergarten while Connor moved on to middle school. Our public school system requires children to wear standard school attire which amounts to any solid color shirt with a collar plus black, navy, or khaki pants, shorts, skirts, or rompers. While Connor's wardrobe was fully stocked of acceptable items, Ella's closet was really lacking! As you know, I sew most of her clothes, and very few are solid colors!

Well, rather than go out and buy all her school clothes, I decided I would sew as many as I could. We purchased a few knit polo style shirts, and then I made her a khaki and black pair of shorts using the Blank Slate Clean Slate Pants Pattern (affiliate link). These shorts fit the bill perfectly!