Purchased T Shirt alterations

When I travel I like to use quick drying travel garments. My stash doesn't contain suitable fabric so I have various pieces I have purchased.
I realised my quick drying tees look OK when under a shirt, but are clarly too tight when I take the shirt off when I warm up. This has resulted in some less than flattering holiday photos, so I decided to tackle the problem.

I have quite a few of the tees which are too tight through the tummy and hips, and some of them I even have two of the same size, style and colour, so decided to cut panels from one to widen the other. I thought this might be of interest to others so am documenting it here.

You need

• One t shirt which fits you properly, this is going to act as a guide for how much to add.
• One too tight t shirt to be the main body, so pick the one in better condition.
• One too tight t shirt to use for panels, so pick the one with the pilling or stain.

Cut the side seams off the t shirt you will use for the main body, then layer up the shirts as follows

On the bottom lay the well fitting t shirt, either folded in half, or since mine has a centre back seam, laid flat and use the seam to guide you.
Fold the other two tees in half and make sure the sides/hems are level.
Next lay on the folded t shirt you will cut the panels from and line it up with the side seams of the larger tee.

Finally lay the folded main body tee on top but lining up with the centre back of the well fitting tee.

Mark the side of the main tee on top of the panels tee, and remove the main tee. Add 2 x seam allowances. Cut along this line.

Now sew the panels to your tee with the sewing machine, you can then either overlock/serge this or coverhem depending on the machines you have and the finish you want.

 Yay!!! You now have a better fitting tee.

(Note: I'm presuming the original tee fits you in the shoulders but is too tight through the body. This is a particularly good alteration for pear shapes like me, as you can flare out the side panels to add whatever extra you need.)

I'll look later at how to add panels if you don't have another t shirt to use, but do have some scraps of suitable yardage. It can be a fabulously slimming look.