You can print the above and place it next to you while you cut!
MATERIALS:
- Old t-shirt (I used my old college tshirt! We were Home of the Fighting Poets. Hahahahaha. How threatening :P)
- Pair of scissors
TIME: 15 min
DIRECTIONS:
1. Cut away the crew neck the sleeves and the bottom. For the sleeves, you will want to start at the shoulder (you decide how thick you want the strap to be) and cut straight into the chest area. Then curve. If you curve the whole way, it’s gonna look weird on you. If you have no idea what I am talking about, no worries, just follow the tutorial, you can always snip away later. Tr to follow my pictures.
2. Clean up the edges. Decide how low you want the neckline to be.
3. Turn the shirt to the back and make a narrower racerback. Then cut a deep V.
4. Take the bottom edge of the shirt that you cut off and cut the seams off so that you’re just left with fabric.
5. Stretch it like a maniac. This is fun.
6. You’re left with a really cool noodle thing. It’s really long too!
7. About 2″ above the bottom of the V tie a know with one edge of the noodle.
8. Wind it round ‘n round, then double knot it at the other end too. Cut off loose ends.
9. To make this a hi-low top, lay your shirt sideways and flat. Then starting at about 4-5″ from the front center of the shirt start diagonally cutting down til you reach the back. You’ll want to cut straight for a bit at the front center then start creating the diagonal or else you’re gonna get a weird arrow shape with you open up.
DONE! Start pulling at the fabric to make rough edges go curly and to make your tank longer.
What a fab way to reuse old shirts as vintage gym fashion! I love it. When you guys make yours, please share it on facebook or tweet it to me @Blogilates.
Wear with a bright bra to make it pop!
Oh and be sure to be the first to pin this to Pinterest! GO!
<3 Cassey
Hi Cassey, I just commented somewhere else and realized I probably should of left my comment here. I just did three tanks and used the remaining pieces from a blue shirt and used it on a pink one. I really think you would like it! I would love to hear what you think of it and also see your version of one!! Thanks again for being a huge fitness inspiration and mentor!!
( I will not add any photos to my tumblr for a while so the photo of my tank should be the first one you see!)
http://fit-femme.tumblr.com/
this turned out really cute, but I suggest using a larger shirt than you’re used to rather than a shirt that is exactly your size as it tends to be more body constricting.
i went to Whittier too! 2007, i have a similar, huuuge Poet shirt!
It came out great, but i’m a dude and this is a girlie top. I said my daughter made it…what does a mens shirt look like? Again, the shirt came out gre
at and i got lots of favorable comments while wearing it.
hey so i just found this on pinterest and im making one right now!! c:
Love them! Made 2 already and they came out great. Thanks!
No offense, but I found this tutorial super confusing! I tried it and it just looked awful on my shirt. Is there a specific kind of material? Is there any kind of video, or more pictures to help me in destroying another one of my shirts?
thanks,
Kelsey
How does it look after you wash it? Or do you hand wash your shirts?
looks fine! looks even better actually.
I finally made one! Can’t quite wear it to the gym yet but I can definitely wear it at home for my poppilates!
I tried to cut too conservatively the first time and when I tried my shirt on it was choking me out!
Also, you have no idea how hard it is to wrap the noodle part when your cat has decided that the noodle part is now his favorite toy!! I kept trying to get him to play with the other pieces but no – he only wanted the noodle!!
Okay, I finally did this with a fugly tech tee that I got from a race last year, and I love it!!!!! Now….do you think it would be rude to show up to this year’s race in my butchered tee?! :P
i’m kinda confused about the 5th picture. it looks like you made a ton of little cuts on the sides to make it look like fringe but i don’t think that’s what you did… could you elaborate more on that step? what did you actually do and why does it look like fringe? thanks :)
All she did was stretch it, it just makes it look like she made cuts but it’s just the material stretching out.
So I am going to hit the beach this weekend & I’ve no beachwear! But then I thought about this DIY of yours…just perfect! :) I will certainly try this!! HOPEFULLY it works! :) Thanks Cassey!
Oh and I missed the Hunger Games workout :(
Mine didn’t turn out as well as yours. But I will keep practicing! Thank you!
Thank you for this! I just made it and it came out great.
I LOVE this! I just did a “trial run” and made my own and I think it’s the best thing since sliced bread! What a way to reuse an old tshirt. Certainly gives a new twist to cut-offs :) thank you!
idea: you can make two shirts and switch their noodle things in the back! it’d be more colorful :-)
I just made a few of these this morning. Love it! It motivated me to do a kick-butt workout too :)
I love this! I just made one and it is so cute and I plan to do this with lots more of my tshirts!
Thanks Cassey
I saw this on pinterest this is such a cool way to cut of shirts. My fiance is about to graduate from Whittier, poets are not really intimidating haha
def not
I just became a found of your site today and this is the first thing I did. GREAT idea! Mine did not come out as perfect as your’s but it works for me! Thank You and thank you for your blogs and encourgement.
good job still!
Does it matter what size of the tshirt? If I use a shirt size small and is form fitting on me, will it look like this? Or is it better to use a medium or large?
If it’s a form fitting shirt like a baby tee it will book more like a tight tank top.
Love the tutorial, but sort of hard to follow. Not that your directions weren’t concise, but I’m more of a visual learner, and it looked like you had tons of photos of the project on hand. However, not matched up with the directions. Just thought it would be a nice suggestion to give you. Thanks for your hard work.
video is coming soon
That would be so so helpful! My friend wore a shirt inspired by your blog post but I have a hard time following instructions too, so I would love to see a video to hopefully increase my chances of successs! Thanks!!
ok i have absolutely no talent for making this racer back. it looks like it came out of a shredder. sigh. and i love this type of shirts
keep trying :)
About how loose should the shirt be to turn out like this? Like should it be a size too big, two sizes too big, or should it just about fit?
a regular adult tee that fits you
This is a great idea! Thank you so much. Workout tops can be so expensive and these are cute. I just made 2 of them. Thanks.
Such a great idea and tutorial! Mine did not come out even close to as cute as yours, but I will keep trying! Thanks for sharing with the world!
Im am wanting to make one of these from a Kansas City Royals t-shirt. (There are no cute Royals tanks around, and I am taking matters into my own hands!) To get the loose tank effect, like yours, assuming I am the same size as you, what size shirt would I buy?
Someone became a celeb over night! I can’t wait to do this with my old sorority tees!
Question though – what brand is your bright sports bra? I love the color!
lorna jane
My husband graduated fr Whittier!!! Beautiful campus
omg cool! what year??
OMG!! Thank you soo much!!! I bought a top that was already like this at a thrift shop and always wanted to make my other T-shirts like it because i love it.
Just made one!
Wish I could say it turned out as cute as yours, but super fun!
Just made my first one & I LOVE it! Thanks so0o0o much for this great idea =))))
So I didn’t do any of the homework I planned on catching up on tonight, but I made three of these shirts. Oh well, when am I going to use physics in real life anyways? :p
and that’s what i said!
I made one out of one of my old volleyball tees.
O.M.G I LOVE THIS IM GONNA MAKE ONE RIGHT NOW. THANK U SO MUCH.
Looks great, need to try it with one of my baggy t-shirts. Awesome tutorial!
this is PERFECTTT!
Thank you xoxo
OMGOSH Cassey thank you so so much for this tutorial! In college you get so many different shirts if you volunteer at on-campus events and I was just about to get rid of them, but now I’ll get to revamp them!
Great idea! Can transform all my old tees and my bf’s tees to cute looking tops! (=
THANX! u r the best (=
Just shared this on our facebook with a link to you! So cute! xoxo
Thanks so much Diana!
I can’t wait to go home and make a million of these with all of the t-shirts I own but never wear!
WTF THE HUNGER GAMES WORKOUT JUST GOT OFF! THIS IS SO BAD :(
it was one of the best workouts you ever done, i’d like to ask you to PLEASE post that on dailymotion or vimeo
Ok I’m doing this asap! I have plenty of old shirts just taking up space.
What a freakin’ great idea! My pajama drawer is overflowing with old college & concert tees. I love your yellow poets top actually. I’m a poet, so that made one made me smile especially big. Too bad my undergrad was the Hawks. Not as quirky! I’ll have to give this a shot before my Saturday workout :) Thanks for sharing
hahaha poet pride!
Wow. Now THIS is something I think even I could manage (complete non-sewer save a button, here and there) and I’ve got SO many t-shirts and so few workout tops (I get frying hot, so need ones like yours). SWEET! Thanks bunches. This is also a great example of “re-use.” =) woo-hoo!
OMG this is amazing! I cannot wait to make this today! Thank you!!!!
Of course I accept! I’m going to post this on my Pinterest board and the sewing board I visit every day. There’s a thread on my sewing board about healthy eating, and I’ve mentioned you from time to time both for the challenge and Pilates. And now you’ve done a post about our favorite passion–sewing/clothing. Even if there’s not machine involved it’s good :) ! Love it, and thank you.
that’s so cool!
I love this! Soooo going to do it!
Great idea!! I have lots of loose t-shirts especially after I lost weight, will do this! Thanks, Casey ;)
no prob!
This is so cute!!! I have so many tees that I can’t use for working out here in hot and humid Singapore so this will be a perfect way to change up my workout gear! Thanks Cassey :)
ur welcome!