Toddler Shirt: Reworked for Modesty

Hard to believe that Hobbit Lass #1 is now 3 years old!  Her birthday was last week.  Being she is the oldest, we have the constant battle of finding new clothes for her each season.  I've got lot's of fabric and patterns, so I could conceivably cloth her myself for free, but unfortunately, don't have the energy or time.  So I was super excited that some relatives wanted to get her some new clothes for her birthday.  However, I have very strong opinions about little girls clothing that they don't share.  One of the shirts that the Lass received had cutouts on the shoulders.

I do not like cutout shoulders at all.  The best way I could think to describe them is teenager-ish and trendy, my husband took the thought further and said it was over sexualized.  The last thing little girls need is to be sexualized, in my opinion.  I had permission to return any of the clothes I didn't like, but I've always had a hard time returning gifts, plus we didn't get the receipt.

So I set out to modify the shirt.  I found a brand new white tee shirt at Salvation Army for only $1.99.  Since the cutouts are small, I only needed the fabric from the sleeves, and now have plenty of white knit jersey for any other projects that come up.

Using a knit to fill in the hole was easiest since I knew it would stretch over her shoulders the right way.  To make it as seamless as possible, I pinned from the top.

Then stitched with white thread as close to the binding as I could get.

After both pieces were sewn on, I trimmed the fabric to about a quarter on an inch.  If I had a serger, I would have finished the seams, but the way it is now, I wasn't sure how well running a zig-zag would work around the edge.

Ta-Da!  Much better looking!  When the Hobbit Lass tried on her new shirt, her comment was that her shoulders wouldn't be cold anymore. :-)

Singing with the ring stacker as her mic.

Now I just need to finish up Hobbit Lass #2's training pants, and try to get at least one sundress made for Lass #1 for summer.  Plus, I'd really like to make Hobbit Lass #3 one new dress just for her, and some more diaper covers for her before she arrives in June!

So what would you do?  Return the garment, or modify it?