No-Sew DIY Bow-Back Tank Top

I love redesigning my old t-shirts for lots of reasons.  It keeps my wardrobe fresh, which keeps me from getting bored and spending money on new clothes.  Also, I like skating in edgy/cute/cut-up outfits.  Plus, imagining how to redesign a t-shirt is a fun way to spend a morning coffee break or an afternoon workout (or both).

For this particular t-shirt redesign, I wanted something with a drapey, open back, but I didn't want it to be so open that it would fall off my shoulders and bother me while I was skating. The simplest (and prettiest) answer was a bow similar to the ones I made on the sleeves of this t-shirt.

If you want to make this top too, you'll need an old V-neck t-shirt, a pair of scissors, and some glue (I used E6000).  

Make sure the shirt fits a little bit loose because creating the bow at the back will tighten it up a little bit.

Place your shirt facing down on a flat surface and follow these directions...

1.  Cut a half-circle out of the neckline that's about 4 inches deep into the back of the shirt. The lower you cut this half-circle, the lower the bow will sit on your shirt.  Next, start at the bottom of each armpit, measure 6 inches down the side seams, and make a little mark with a pencil. Cut straight across the back of the shirt between your two marks being very careful to cut close to the side seams but do not cut through them.  Those side seams will keep the horizontal slit you just made from growing and growing until the shirt isn't wearable anymore.

2.  Insert your thumb into the horizontal slip and your forefinger into the half-circle at the neckline and pinch your fingers together.  This is where your bow will be.  If you're not happy with the placement, now's the time to cut the neckline a little deeper to correct it.  Once that's all sorted out, cut a 4 inch x 2 inch strip of fabric out of the extra fabric that you cut from the neckline.

3.  Wrap the fabric strip around the spot that you pinched and glue it in place on the inside of the shirt.  To keep the glue from leaking onto the front of the shirt, place a piece of cardboard or a notebook in between the front and the back of the shirt.  Let the glue dry fully before moving on to the next steps.

4.  Turn the t-shirt over so the front is facing up.  Cut off the neckline just outside of the seam that was used to the keep the neckline on the shirt.  Leaving that seam on the finished product will help it last as long as possible.  Now cut off the sleeves, also cutting these just outside of the seam so that seam stays on the shirt for structural support.

5.  Cut two strips off of the scrap fabric that used to be the neckline.  Wrap each strip around the top of each armhole to hold the straps in place in an aesthetically pleasing way.  Glue them in place on the underside of the strap.   Let the glue dry completely before trying on your finished creation.

I put mine on and skated around a bit this afternoon.  This shirt definitely achieved the drapey look in the back without becoming too loose to skate in.  I can't wait to wear it on our warmup ice tomorrow before the shows!

If you decide to make this shirt too, I'd love to see a picture of yours too!

Happy redesigning!
xoxo
Laura

Hair Bow Knitting Pattern

Whenever a rehearsal period ends and it's finally time for our show to open, I like to make little presents for all the girls to celebrate our opening day.  I made friendship bracelets when we opened this same show last summer, and this summer I decided to knit hair bows.

This is a great project if you're working on shrinking your yarn stash like I am, because each bow only uses a small fraction of a skein of yarn.  You can probably make several of these little guys without buying a single thing.  I made 10!

Notice the black loops behind the bows?  Those are hair ties that are built right in for ease of use.

Materials:
Worsted weight yarn (any color, any material, whatever you've got in your stash!)
US Size 3 knitting needles
Hair ties (I used Goody ouchless elastics in black)
Scissors
Tapestry needle

Pattern:
Cast on 10 stitches
Row 1: Knit

Row 2: Purl
Repeat these two rows for 6.5 inches.
Cast off

Finishing:
1.  Weave in the ends.
2.  Place the knitting on a table right-side down (aka purl side up).
3.  Fold the cast on and the cast off edges toward each other so they touch, as shown in the picture on the right.
4.  Seam the two edges together so the fabric becomes a loop.
5.  Wrap a piece of yarn around the middle of the loop so that it looks like a bow; then secure that piece of yarn with a knot.
6.  Now hold a hair band against the back of the bow and wrap another piece of yarn around both the middle of the bow and one side of the hair band.  Secure the yarn with a knot.

You should now have a finished bow attached to a hair band!

Here's a shot of all my lovely cast mates modeling their bows:

I had a great time knitting these bows, and I think they were a big hit with the girls.

I used all different types of yarn to make these, and the bows made of superwash wool were definitely the easiest to knit, but the cotton bows felt the sturdiest as finished products.  Can you tell which bows were made with which type of yarn?

No matter which yarn I was using, I had a great time creating this pattern and knitting these little guys, and I hope you have fun with them too.

Happy knitting!
xoxo
Laura

No-Sew T-Shirt Bow Sleeves

I'm very excited to share this t-shirt project with you guys today! I came up with the idea a whole month ago while I was still on the ship and I didn't have time to execute it until now.

Now is a funny time, however, because it's snowing like crazy here (in May!).

I started this project yesterday, and while I was working on it, I came up with a fun idea to take pictures of it outside in the sunshine.  I wanted to let the glue dry overnight before I took those pictures, though, and man was I surprised when I woke up to a winter (spring?) wonderland this morning!  I took some pictures outside anyway, just for fun.

All you need to make these bow sleeves are a t-shirt, a pair of scissors, some machine washable glue (I used E6000), measuring tape, and about 10 minutes of your time.

Here are the directions:

1.  Cut a 2.5 inch slit from the top of the shoulder down toward the armpit on both the front and the back of the sleeve, making sure that you are cutting on the outside of the seam.  (This means your total slit length will be 5 inches.)  Once you've done that, there's a possibility that the shoulder seam might hang outside the shirt, like it is in the picture.  To avoid this, I cut the unsightly seam off of the shirt in the area where it was visible.  If yours doesn't hang out, there's no need to cut it off.  Repeat this process on the other sleeve as well.

2.  Carefully cut off the very bottom of the shirt, below the seam stitching.  Save this strip of fabric for step 3.  You'll be using it to make the center of the bow.

3. The strip of fabric from step 2 will be folded in half.  Unfold it and cut out two 2.5 inch strips.

4.  Use your fingers to pinch the center of one of the sleeves.

5.  Wrap one of the strips from step 3 around the sleeve where you pinched it.  Put a dab of glue on the end of the strip, where the star is in the picture.

6.  Fold the other end of the strip over the glue so that the strip becomes a circular band around the sleeve.  Pinch it tightly between your fingers to make sure that the glue is secure.  Repeat steps 3 through 6 on the other sleeve.  Let the glue dry before trying on your new creation!

I love my new shirt and I hope you like yours as well.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up again so I can wear it without the vest...

Happy cutting!
xoxo
Laura