While I was in Costa Rica, I had the perfect view to help inspire my creativity. I decided to make this new shirt out of a t-shirt I had brought with me.
Inspired by the trees, oceans, warmth of weather and people while we were in Costa Rica recently, I created this new fun top. I have included instructions for you in case you too want to create something similar with something you own. Enjoy!!!
Materiales
- T-shirt/Blouse/Shirt You Want To Use
- Small Sewing Kit (Because I was traveling)
- Scissors
- Soap (It is a good tool to use if you are on the go to mark the fabric… it is very accessable and comes off easily)
So the first thing I did was cut off the hems from the sleeves, neck and bottom of the shirt.
Next I cut the tag out… it always bothers me and I decided to use it in a different project to leave a thank you note.
I used my book as a ruler, and the soap as a market to indicate how high up on the shirt I wanted the fringe/strips to start.
I used the pins that were in the sewing kit to hold the shirt together above the line I had drawn with the soap so that the shirt didn’t move back while I was cutting.
This is a picture my husband took of me working on the shirt because he said I looked very inspired! I think he was right!! 😛
The next step is to cut from the bottom up to the line you indicated, cutting strips about 1 cm wide. I like to cut smaller strips so there are more of them, but the truth is you can make the strips as narrow or wide as you want. I cut the front first and the turned the shirt over and cut the back. You can cut both at the same time if you want, but I’ve noticed when I do that (usually to try and save time) my back strips always come out crooked.
Cutting the front.
Cutting the back.
Once the strips are cut, I pull them gently to stretch them out a little bit. This will make them curl slightly.
My next step was to do the same thing I did with the bottom of the shirt to the two sleeves. This time I didn’t need to measure or pin because I just cut 1 cm wide strips from the ends of the sleeve up to the shoulder seam. Once finished, I also pulled them gently to stretch the material a little bit.
At this point, I tried on the shirt and thought it might look better having the strips cut in a little higher in the front to form a upside down “V”.
Using one of the arm hems I had already cut off, I cut it so it would be a strip instead of a circle. This is what I was going to use to put the final touches on my new shirt.
I look the strip and tied it to the from the collar to the fringe of the blouse in order to give it a cinch look around the bust. I just tied the strip in a knot, so if you are going to try this, you can make the cinch as tight or loose as you want it.
And…. This was my final product!!
Front View
Back View