Red Ted Art

Cute & Easy Crafts for Kids

How to… make a Halterneck out of a T-shirt (Guest Post)

It looks like we have Guest Post month!! So many lovely people sharing their crafts with you on Red Ted Art. Hurray! This week we have the amazing Amanda from Unique Snowflake visiting. She came up with his ingenious way of converting an old T-shirt into a Halterneck for the ladies! Talk about fabulous recycling!

Now to Amanda:

I have had this T-shirt for years, it was a souvenir from my holiday in Florida which I bought as I loved its colour & motif but every Summer I take it out only to remember the reason I never wear it is it too restrictive at the neck and arms making you feel even hotter. But not this year, rather than it going to waste I’d have a go at transforming it into something more wearable.

I hope this guide helps if you want to try as well, its my first how to so feedback would be great.

The pictures are a bit dark I’m afraid as the camera didn’t pick up great detail from this colour t-shirt.
Take one t-shirt to be re-fashioned one that is a snug fit works best, otherwise you may need to take in the sides.  Be brave take a deep breath & cut off the sleeves.Then remove the trim on the bottom inch of the t-shirt in one piece & keep, this will form the neck tie later on meaning you don’t have to stitch one.
Lie the piece flat, if you wish you can draw a straight line across the body of the t-shirt under the neck opening, then cut along it.  Or like me you can just dive in and cut by guess work.

Then turning the piece so the back is facing draw a line connecting arm hole to arm hole, and cut across the back or just cut away.

The t-shirt should be looking like the below picture now, if you want to neaten the seams around the bottom now is a good time to do it, but I kept mine raw & they just roll up a bit at the bottom.

Now we need to make the halter neck  piece of the t-shirt, lay the shirt front down and turn over the top front neckline by roughly one inch, stitch across this in a matching thread or use a contrasting one for a detailed effect, leaving openings at each end this creates the drawstring for the top.
Take your trim from the bottom of the t-shirt & cut once so you have one long piece, then thread this through the seam.I did this by clipping a hair clip to one end & feeding it through, or you could use a knitting needle to push it through.  When pulled though to an even length tie a knot in each end of cord & runch front up.

Then wear, sorry its a bit of a bad picture of me but hopefully you get the idea. I made this during an episode of Doctor Who so it’s a quick make to do & I love the fact that I get to wear my t-shirt now.

Loving the Summer sunshine
Amanda.x.

I am entering Amanda’s Guest Post to:

Visit thecsiproject.com

Previous How Tos:

– Easy & effective Fish Pinata

– Simple but effective paper frames (vlog)

– How to make a Flower Pom Pom (guest post) – simply gorgeous – use as wedding decor!

– How to make a Paper Envelope

– How to make a No Sew Bib (out of an old shirt)

– How to make a Fabric Mâché Bowl (from old scraps of fabric!)

– How to make a Paper Flower (from newspapers)  (guest post)

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Filed Under: How To's, Sewing 44 Comments

Comments

  1. fiona Erlandsen says

    July 9, 2010 at 7:20 am

    Awesome, I love it. I have tonnes of high neck t-shirts I can’t wear now. This is the perfect solution.

    Reply

  2. Lina says

    July 9, 2010 at 8:49 am

    I love it! Will most definitely try this soon. I find the easiest way to thread a drawstring through a seam (in particular long seems as through hoodies or a pair of trousers that lost their drawstring) is to fasten a large safety neidle to one end of the drawstring and use that feed it through the seem…

    Reply

  3. Red Ted Art says

    July 9, 2010 at 10:13 am

    Oh Lina, I can imagine you doing something FABULOUS with his tutorial! DO please have a go and then post in Facebook, would LOVE to see what you make!!! xxxx

    Reply

    • Red Ted Art says

      July 9, 2010 at 2:44 pm

      Glad you like it! And yes, Amanda did a fabulous job! My problem is, I don’t have any tees… will have to go and steal one from my husband or get one from the charity shop to have a go!!!

      Reply

  10. April says

    July 11, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    Love this!!! Thanks so much for sharing. and for putting the directions for each step!!! Looks so cute and original.

    Reply

    • Red Ted Art says

      July 12, 2010 at 8:10 am

      LOL! That is my Guest Poster Amanda looking fab! She will be so pleased to hear your compliments!!! x

      Reply

  13. Tanya says

    July 12, 2010 at 9:00 pm

    Great idea! Aren’t you smart? You should be so proud of yourself! Great job! I need to make something cute for myself instead of always making stuff for the kids.

    Reply

    • Red Ted Art says

      July 13, 2010 at 10:13 am

      I am terrible at sewing two (actually, ok at hand sewing)! Will be giving this a go as well. Amanda is so clever!!! x

      Reply

  18. Hayley says

    July 13, 2010 at 5:14 pm

    I saw this in my Greader and starred it. So bloody cool! I have so many tshirts taht I dont wear cause I dont like wearing Tee’s but halternecks?! Yes please! Reckon you could show us how to make them into vests?

    Reply

  24. Audra says

    July 19, 2010 at 1:35 pm

    FUN shirt! Thanks for sharing the HOW TO!

    Thanks for socializing with me Monday til Sunday!

    Can’t wait to see what you link up this week! 🙂

    Reply

  25. Its Sew Stinkin Cute says

    July 19, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    What a wonderful idea! I need to pull out some shirts that I feel the same way about and take the sewing machine and scissors to them. Great job and thank you for linkin’ to It’s Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday!

    Reply

  27. Heidi says

    January 14, 2011 at 12:36 am

    Hi there,
    I realise this is an old posting but I HAD to say thnk you so so much for this tutorial! I have an old Led Zeppelin shirt that had holes in the armpits (shame!! lol) but it’s one of my favourite shirts and I just made sure I didn’t throw my arms in the air when I wore it (which is hard for me because I am a bit hyperactive lmao) so now I’ll be able to wear my Led Zepp shirt and have my whole armpit showing and no one will batter an eyelid rofl

    thanks again!!!

    Reply

  28. cassie says

    May 26, 2011 at 4:15 pm

    oh my gosh!!! i am having flashbacks from 10 years ago when i worked at abercrombie & fitch and we sold shirts just like that!!! but they were probably like $40. 🙂

    Reply

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