Embroidered Polo Shirt That Started off as a Tennis Shirt

Embroidered polo shirt that started off as a tennis shirt 

This is not your average embroidered polo shirt. This is an H&M men’s cotton jersey t-shirt that I turned into an embroidered polo shirt! For this project, you will need a t-shirt, some fabric paint, some white painters tape, and an X-acto blade.

Step 1: Take your X-acto blade and cut the sleeves off of the shirts at the shoulder seams.   Step 2: Cut off the bottom hem of the t-shirt to make it shorter and more like a dress shirt length.   Step 3: Cut the front and back neck hem on both sides of the t-shirt, across the shoulders. Hopefully, you will have a nice clean neck line. You can take some extra fabric to cover any raw edges or straight edges.

Step 4: Cover your raw edges with white painters tape. You may need to cut in the middle of the t-shirt where there is tape sticking out because it is kind of hard to roll around an X-acto blade. Take care not to cut the front or back neck tape. 

Step 5: Cover your raw edges with white painters tape and cut out any extra fabric at the top of the sleeves that is sticking out.   Step 6: The next step is to paint on some fabric paint onto the front and back of the t-shirt using a sponge and brush. I used a pearl color, but you could use any color!

Step 7: Once you have finished painting, cover up your white painters tape edges with scrap fabric to prevent them from bleeding through.   Step 8: When finished, take your shirt off from the X-acto blade and place it under a steam iron for at least 10 minutes. This will set your stains and prevent any bleed-through.

Step 9: Turn your shirt inside out and start piecing the shirt together one stitch at a time. Make sure that you are not making a wrinkle along the bottom of the t-shirt because it will be harder to alter later. Just keep stitching as you go back and forth, one side at a time, until it is all sewn up.   Step 10: Once all of your seams are finished sewing, take some white painters tape to cover up any raw edges or straight lines. Once finished, put the shirt in the washer and dryer to make sure that you don't have any bleeding colors or stains.

Step 11: When finished, iron your shirt and you are finished! You just turned a t-shirt into an embroidered polo shirt!  

This t-shirt is light weight and breathable which makes it great for a sunny day. If you want to wear this on a hot day, I recommend having something underneath of it so that nothing shows through.

Conclusion

This is a great project for those who love embroidery and want to get into it. Remember, practice makes perfect!

You can purchase your own H&M shirt here!

If you do try this project out, I would love to see what you make! Feel free to email me pictures of your finished product! 

Thanks~ SaveSave

Posted by Brian S.