You don't have to invest a lot of time to make a too large t shirt feminine and flattering. This time a few gathered running stitches did the trick.

I had purchased this man's t shirt from a charity store a while back and wasn't sure of how to upcycle it.

I had originally thought of cutting it up and adding it to a shorter pink t shirt that I have to create a longer tunic, but I like the length of it as it is, so I put it aside in the "wait for inspiration" pile.

Today I found a t shirt necklace that I had made a while back in shades of pink and fuschia which was perfect to wear with this t shirt, and inspiration came.

I decided not to make the t shirt any smaller and not to make any major changes.

I wanted a slightly high low effect in the front and could create that with a bit of gathered ruching in the centre front of the t shirt.

I marked 24 cm up from the bottom of the shirt in front.

At that point I marked the width of the shirt from side to side - 63 cm.

And then marked the center of this point 24 cm up (the length that I had marked from the hem up) and 31.5 cm from either side.

From the bottom edge of the 24 cm line, I ran a gathering stitch up to the 31.5 cm mark and continued this gathering stitch down to the hem using small even running stitches.

I pulled the thread up to get a ruched effect.

And top stitched the ruched fabric in place from the inside of the shirt.

I wanted the same ruched effect on the sleeves to give the shirt a softer feminine look.

I marked up from the hem on the top sleeve line 12 cm.

12 cm up from the hem of the shirt.

I used the same kind of gathering stitch here from bottom to top and back down to the hem, topstitching the ruching in place on the inside of the shirt.

The end result. 10 minutes of work and I now have a pretty pink ruched tunic to wear on the hot summer days which are still here.