Customer Reviews

99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Trim, and Tie Your T-Shirt into Something Special

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Ok. Mom. You have a 15 year old daughter. It's summer and school is out, or it's the deeps of winter and the dreaded boredom has set in. What to do? Get this book and have your kid cut up some flea market tee shirts and make any (or almost any) of these 99 styles.

Firstly, this book is probably not filled with designs for those of us, the invisible women "d'un certain age." I mean if you are middle aged. If your tummy hangs out with a lot of dimples and your back is less than sleek and taut. So unless you are whippet slim or very daring with your skin exposure, you yourself are not going to wear most of these items. However, if you do wear young fashions, hang out your midriff with pride, then there are a lot of fun tops in this book and you can have a year's worth of shopping in an instant, or nearly so, by cutting up WallyWorld clearance shirts and having a blast.

My favorite design in the book is "Sarit"--it's a cap-sleeved "shrug-and-v-neck" design. By clever cutting and tying, you get a sort of tied shrug over a window-v-neck fluttery top. Very cute. No one said you couldn't fire up the old glue gun or get out the fabric puff paint and embellish these models, either.

There are a lot of halters (as one would expect), some lace-up sides, and some VERY bare versions that the 15 year old will want and you will ...not want her to wear. Ever. Even so, this book is a closet of summer wear in a spiral bound book and if you have a crafty kid or if you are crafty, you can't go wrong here. Very clever stuff, and some designs are cute-to-die-for.

I recently bought this book, and was so pleasantly surprised by it, that I immediately bought 3 more for gifts! The illustrations are just gorgeous, and all of the instructions are easy to follow and simple. This book transformed my wardrobe! Anyone can transform old t-shirts into new and fabulously stylish shirts. The designs in this book are so creative.
Also, this book would make an outstanding gift! I want to display mine in my house, I keep it on the coffee table (when I am not using it to transform!)
I would highly highly reccommend this book to anyone who a) wants to re-vamp their wardrobe, b) is style-conscious or savvy...c) is a beginner or advanced at t-shirt rehab or d) anyone at all! It's great! Buy 3!

Here's what the San Francisco Chronicle says about the book:
"...an ugly old T-shirt taking up space in your drawer can become something much, much better with a good-quality pair of scissors and a little ingenuity. You can cut new necks or sleeves and holes in strategic places, do lacing or ties. With two swipes of the sewing machine, a boxy shirt becomes a baby T. You can do shirring or ruching (i.e., making attractive wrinkles or bunches), make ruffles or add lace or ribbons, safety pins or other embellishments. T-shirts can become skirts, shorts or bags."
At last, something I can do with the blah t-shirts that I keep shoving to the bottom of the stack. I'd seen some fancied up t-shirts at craft fairs and never imagined that I could make nice looking ones myself. This book gets you past your fear of cutting. What do you have to lose, but a few shirts that you aren't wearing anyway? V.Allain

I bought this book for my younger sister because she's always wanting to cut her t-shirts up and change them (with guidance). I thought that this might be a good guide for her, but I was pretty disappointed when I received it. Although spiral bound, which is nice, it lacks clear, concise instructions on how to create the t-shirts. There isn't a single "classic" design, the designs are too similar, and there are no actual photos of the designs, either. Not recommended (and especially not for beginners).

Most of the t-shirt designs in this book are just plain bizarre... A lot of large holes cut out of the t-shirt or jagged edges cut through it. Not something I would ever, ever wear (ok, I would maybe wear three of the 99, honestly...). A previous reviewer had it right when she commented the designs are made for skinny women who like to show off. This targeted demographic isn't a problem, but this is definitely not a book for every woman, and (if I had children) I wouldn't give it to my daughters as inspiration for art projects.

Also, there are zero actual pictures in the book and relatively little instruction. There is one color drawing of each design (so of course it looks great) and a cursory explanation of how it was created.

I think this book might be more appropriate for someone who has some creative sewing juices but needs a little extra help thinking of unique designs to create and someone who is not afraid to show off.

I am a 78 year old grandmother who hates to throw anything away.I had a whole bag of old tee shirts, and asked my grandaughter if she could use them. She said, Gramma, you don't have to throw them away, buy 99 ways to cut a tee shirt and you can recycle them.Well that was just up my alley, and do you know what, it works just like the authors say, all you need is a scissors and a few minutes time. Who says an old granny can't look cute.

This book really does have 99 patterns for t-shirt reconstruction. However, at least half were either too ridiculously revealing or too off the wall to wear in public-- and I am not the most conservative twenty something. My main problem with this book is that IT HAS NO PHOTOS-- you really can't get a great idea of how something will work out unless you see a photo. This has cute little penned drawings, which really dont tell me if this would work out, how it would hang, etc. Also, instructions are limited, mostly diagrams, and if you are not a visual learner, that might prove difficult. Also, a lot of the 99 are variations on the same theme. But, it could spark some creative ideas. Check this out at the library before purchasing--

I think this is the best T-shirt transformation book of the bunch. This isn't flashy -- there are no photos, just spot illustrations for each design -- but there are a lot of great ideas here, and you can easily mix and match elements. The ideas become endless. Highly recommended.

The WORST t-shirt restyle book I've seen. There are a lot of ideas here, but many are unwearable if you are over 25 or weigh over 100 pounds or need to wear a bra, and some would be awkward even then. Part of the problem is the concept doesn't lend itself to so many designs; The only materials they allow for each project are one tee, scissors, thread & needle. I understand not everyone has vintage brooches or silk ties lying around to revamp a tee, but I think adding a second tee or ribbon or shoestrings would help a lot. The problem is that they have to cut these items out of the shirt in one place to add them in another, so you wind up with things that are heavily layered in the front and have no back, drawstrings cut in a spiral from a circular cutout, etc., which is what makes some designs awkward. Some of the designs cannot be saved by adding materials-they're simply unattractive. I'd look elsewhere for inspiration.

What a great concept and way to save big bucks by inspiring my teenagers and I to cut our own wardrobe! I happened to see the authors last weekend on MSNBC Weekend Style. They are just amazing. The book demystifies the process and is great fun. I encourage all style-conscious teens and moms to try a few!