Polo Refashion #2 (Tutorial)

Many, many moons ago, I did a refashion with one of Philip's old polo shirts, and after a ton of emails and comments asking for a step by step tutorial, it's finally time. 

This was a polo that Philip bought a few years ago, but when it accidentally went through the dryer and shrunk quite a bit, he no longer liked it. It's from Brooks Brothers, so it's very high quality knit, and has a fantastic drape -- the fit and feel is so nice. Also, with a year and a half of refashioning under my belt, this refashion turned out quite a bit better than the original polo refashion. I'm in love with my new slouchy half-sleeve tee.

jeans: american eagle (shop) // wedges: target // belt: target (shop)

step one. Cut off the collar. Set it aside to use later.

step two. Try the shirt on backward (buttons in the back) and mark the new neck hole with pins. Then cut out the neck hole, as shown below with the dotted line.

step three. Since we cut the collar off, go back with a seam ripper and remove the rest of the collar bits, as seen below. 

step four. go back to the collar piece and open it up, tearing off the interfacing if there is any. 

salvage as long of a strip as possible and iron it flat (as seen with the bottom strip in the photo below).

now fold it in half, wrong sides together, and press it flat. This will be the "ribbing" for your neckline.  If you can't get a long enough piece, just use a few pieces and sew them together.

step five. attach the ribbing to the neckline with a straight stitch, as seen below. 

The length of my ribbing was about 2 inches shorter than the neck hole, so I pinned it evenly and then pulled the ribbing in between pins as I sewed. This achieved a nice tight neckline. If your ribbing is the same length and isn't pulled tight when sewn, the neckline will be wavy and loose. 

Press the neckline flat and then sew around the neckline with a wide straight stitch just below the ribbing, as seen below. 

Fold the raw ends of the ribbing down at an angle and pin, sewing over them to secure them in place as you sew that seam. 

The front of your neckline will now look like this:

and the back will look like this: 

step six. try the shirt on and determine how much you want to take in on the sleeves and the sides. Then lay the shirt flat on the ground and pin in place. Then sew from the sleeve hem to the shirt hem with a straight stitch. Trim the seam allowance and serge or zigzag your raw edge (optional since knits don't fray).

press all your seams and you're done!

comment or email me with questions! happy sewing!