Go Make Yourself Something Nice

Hey, I don't know about you but I am so totally over winter. It's not quite warm here in New York yet, but it's coming. To take your mind off the persistent cold and get ready for the season of swelter I've prepared this halter top tutorial.

Start off with a simple t-shirt. I used plain white but you can use prints or anything you like. Cut off the bottom 12 inches of the shirt to create the bottom half of the garment. Then, cut 2 triangles from the remaining top half. The triangles should about two inches wide at the shoulder and nine inches long across the chest. You can cut them both at the same time by cutting through both layers of the shirt.



Set your sewing machine to a basting stitch length (usually around 4 on most machines). Baste the nine inch long sides of both triangles (basting can also be done by hand.) Gather the fabric by pulling one piece (not both) of basting thread on each triangle. The pieces should shrink from nine inches to about six.



Once you have your pieces gathered, pin them to the twelve inch bottom piece (right sides together) as shown. There should be about one inch between the two triangle pieces.



Set your machine to a regular stitch length (about 2) and sew the triangles to the bottom piece. Now you have your basic top. You can customize it in a number of ways. Lengthen the halter straps by cutting strips from leftover fabric and sewing them onto the triangle tops. If the bottom part is too large, you can make it smaller by cutting down the middle of center back and sewing it back up a few inches smaller. You can also make the back into an adjustable tie closure simply by cutting down center back and tying the two pieces together. Get creative and have fun! Let us know if you come up with any other variations, or send us pictures of your completed tops! We are having a T Shirt Making Party here at the Labs on Sunday April 15th at 3PM. Bring your old t-shirts and we can show you how to transform them into cool pieces you'll actually want to wear!