DIY Tee Shirt Poncho & Salt Water Sandals

I have been wanting to make one of these DIY tee shirt ponchos for quite some time now. I have seen these being sold in online boutiques that specialize in boho styles and there are numerous video tutorials available on various YouTube channels.

I was hesitant at first, not trusting my own sewing skills, but it ended up being one of the easiest sewing projects I have ever completed. It’s certainly not perfect and I wouldn’t even attempt to sell any of my upcycle projects at this point simply because my sewing skills are still novice level at best. I keep telling myself that practice will improve my skills, yet I rarely convince myself to get the old sewing machine out and start making things.

I actually was inspired by Ralph’s Gifted and Talented teacher. She had invited me into the classroom last month to teach basic sewing skills to one of her students who had been asking to learn. Since she doesn’t know how to sew herself, Ralph volunteered me! Of course, I was more than happy to oblige. I spent an entire week after school with the teacher and the student who wanted to learn. I taught hand sewing first including attaching buttons and then we progressed to the machine and made drawstring bags out of an old curtain.

We botched the first bag a little and still need to fix it, but the second one was nearly perfect. I have found that second attempts usually are more successful than first attempts especially when it comes to sewing projects. It’s a great life lesson actually…mistakes helps us learn…not just in sewing but in basically everything!

So inspired I was. And determined to make one of these unique poncho style tops out of an old tee.

First, I headed to YouTube to find an easy to follow tutorial. I do not like complicated projects because I don’t have all the sewing knowledge necessary for successful completion. I do like simple and easy with very few steps and this project is exactly that.

I watched two different video tutorials before beginning…How I turned my Pink Floyd T-Shirt and a Thrifted Scarf into a Cool Homemade Poncho! by Anna’s Kitchen & Stichin and SEWING: Upcycled Boho T-Shirt Poncho EASY! by Yarn & Yards. Both tutorials were very easy to follow but I liked having two different points of view before getting started.

I began with an old Fireside Collective band tee shirt that belonged to Archie. He wore it until it got all misshapen and didn’t really fit him anymore so I threw it into a bin of old clothing that I use for my upcycling and raggery projects. If it can be cut up and turned into something else, I don’t throw away any clothing items at all.

Both tutorials used scarves for the poncho sleeves, but you can use any long strips of fabric as long as they have some amount of drapability. That’s not a word, but you know what I mean. You don’t want to use a stiff heavy fabric because your sleeves won’t be flowy and a poncho tee shirt definitely needs flowy, drapey sleeves.

I did not use scarves for my sleeves. I used wrap skirts. I have had these two tie dye cotton wrap skirts for about 25 years. You can see the green one styled here. The skirts never really looked right on me but I loved the green, black, and white tie dye patterns so I have held onto them for over two decades waiting for the right project to upcycle them. Since the colors were perfectly coordinated with the floral design on the front of the tee shirt, I knew this was the project to finally bring these gorgeous skirts back from the bin.

I messed up a little bit cutting the skirts because they were curved instead of having straight hems like scarves, but I eventually figured it out and the result was a beautiful butterfly wing shape that made me so happy!

I styled my fabulous new tee shirt poncho in a casual boho way with light wash flared jeans, my black cowgirl hat, stacked bracelets, layered ivory necklaces, new seed bead moon earrings, and my new black double strap Salt Water Sandals.

I need to talk about these sandals for a minute. Last month, I received an invitation from Salt Water Sandals to try their footwear. Needing a new pair of supportive and comfortable sandals in black and with no obligation other than to try the shoes and share them if I was pleased, I agreed and chose the Sun-San Margery sandals.

Salt Water Sandals was founded in St. Louis in 1944 by Walter Hoy and his brother-in-law Sam Bound. They created their first sandal design, The Original, for Walter’s daughter Margery. Four generations later, the company has never been acquired or gone corporate and is still run by the same family. Today, their footwear collection offers 15 different women’s styles and 29 different styles for babies, toddlers, and little kids.

These may look like plain old black sandals, but they have a very unique feature about them. They are constructed from high quality leather that was designed to get wet. Most leather footwear companies discourage you from getting your shoes wet without first adding a leather protectant to waterproof your shoes. However, when you get Salt Water Sandal leather wet, it helps mold the shoes to your feet creating a comfortable custom fit. Because they are designed for water, you can wear these sandals into the ocean or in a pool or anywhere your feet might get wet without concern for damaging the structure of the shoes.

I have not had the opportunity to wear my Salt Water Sandals while wet because it is just too cold still. With some warmer weather on the horizon, I will definitely be doing this soon and will report back. But for now, my dry Salt Water Sandals are exactly what my summer shoe wardrobe needed. They are very comfortable, very supportive (which my old feet require these days), and they totally suit my boho vibe.

Have you been creatively inspired lately?

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee