STEP 1: While wearing the T, have someone help you to mark the center back with a straight pin where the gather will go; it works best right below the bust line.

STEP 2: Take off the T, and turn it inside out - be carefull not to knock out that pin! Transfer the pin marking to the inside back of the shirt. Now, fold the shirt in half lengthwise, matching shoulders, sleeves, and bottom edges. Double check that the pin is on the center fold, and move it over if you need to. Using a ruler, measure over about 4" from that center pin, and mark with another pin.

Carefully flip the T over to the other side, and repeat.

STEP 3: Open up the shirt, and you will have three pin marks - one in the center, and one 4" on each side. Cut a piece of 1" wide soft, stretchy elastic to 4".

STEP 4: Remove that middle pin marking the center, and pin each end of the elastic to each of the remaining pins. Tack stitch each side of the elastic to the shirt using a narrow zig zag stitch on the sewing machine.

STEP 5: Now comes the fun part! To stitch the elastic down to the shirt, s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the shirt with both hands until the elastic is about even with the shirt.

Practice how it feels to hold the shirt stretched out with both hands a few times BEFORE you put it in the machine to sew. Use a standard zig-zag stitch (lenght about 1.5-2mm, width about 3-3.5mm), and sew right down the middle of the elastic strip, stretching as you sew. Here's what the finished stitching will look like:

STEP 6: Now, just sew two more rows of stitching the same way, one at each edge of the elastic, stretching the fabric out as you go. When you're done, turn the shirt back the right way and check out your stitching!

Now there's no excuse for wearing baggy T's!

And, here's a few extra tips to help you get started:

Don't forget to use a ballpoint needle for stitching with knits - a sharp needle will cut through the knit fibers making holes while a ballpoint needle will go in between the fibers to keep the fabric intact.

Use a really soft and stretchy elastic, it is easier to stretch when sewing and feels much better next to your back than the super stiff stuff made for waistbands.

The amount of fabric gathered in the back of the shirt depends on how much you measure and mark from the center. I used a very big shirt and gathered a total of 8", measuring 4" over from each side of the center back. For a shirt that is not as roomy, try gathering just 6" total, or 3" over from each side of the center back.

First, I start with a T roomy enough for the baby-belly, which means I'm swimming in it!

Then I pre-wash the T a couple of times to get all the shrinkage out. I hem up the bottom of the shirt and the sleeves with a 1" hem, making sure to leave a little extra length in the front of the sirt for my growing baby-belly. If you have a serger, you can use a blind hem stitch to neatly finish off the seams. If you have a sewing machine, use a stretch stitch or an elongated zig zag stitch.

I also used a technique out of the book Generation T by Megan Nicolay to add ties to the sleeves from extra fabric cut off of the bottom of the shirt. This helps to gather up some of the extra fabric from the large sleeves.

Then, the REAL FIT TRICK is adding an elastic gather in the back of the shirt - right below the bust line. This gathers in the top while leaving plenty of room everywhere else!

I'll post a step-by-step tutorial next week on how exactly to create the elastic gather in the back of the T, it's really easy!