Interchangeable Flower Shirts

Here’s the project from my guest post on The CSI Project a few weeks back:

So now that warm weather has finally arrived, I emptied out my kids’ summer clothes bins and realized my little girl had outgrown all her shirts. No biggie. It’s time for a project!

Two boys long underwear shirts (one grey and one white) from my son got a quick trim to make a more feminine 3/4 length sleeve. The raw edges were rolled and tacked in place.

 And while my daughter loved her new shirts and I loved having two new staples to mix and match with her pants and skirts, they just looked so … plain … and there was still only two of them.

But after a quick look through my fabric stash, I decided that some worn out t-shirts and some snaps could help me TOTALLY FAKE a larger t-shirt wardrobe.

You ready?

For this project you’ll need:

Make a 1” wide paper pattern in a smile shape to match the neckline of your shirt.

Pin pattern to felt and cut out. Make one for each set of flowers. Set aside.

Mark spacing for 5 snaps with a marker just below the neckline …

… and attach snaps using a snap setter or hammer.

(Need help setting snaps? I learned how to HERE.)

{And a little tip here: if you’re worried about the snaps tearing through the fabric, cut an extra “smile” shape out of felt the same color of the shirt and pin it on the inside of the neckline before adding your snaps like I did with this white shirt. This will help reinforce the fabric and prevent tearing when the flower collars are snapped on and off.}

Lay your felt piece along the neckline and mark where you feel the snaps underneath …

… and attach the other side of the snaps so that it looks like this.

Flip the felt piece over and snap it into place.

Arrange your flowers where you’d like them …

… and attach with hot glue or thread.

(Need help making rosettes? I learned how to HERE.)

After glue has set, carefully unsnap the flower collar and trim away excess felt.

And that’s it …

Now lather, rinse and repeat for as many different flowers and colors as you’d like!

And you can add all sorts of fun twists to this basic idea!

Try adding snaps and flowers to the sleeves …

… or ribbons and bows to each end for a pretty faux bib necklace.

And just like that, those 2 plain refashioned shirts turned into 8 different looks (and I’m already plotting for more!)

And besides being versatile, those sweet little flowers can come off for meal time, play outside or even laundering. Love that.

Hope everyone has fun getting ready for summer!