Cut Out + Keep | Project » T-Shirt Recon

Taking T-shirt Recon to a whole new level

With a pair of scissors, a needle, some pins and a bit of thread you can turn a T into conceptual design fit for the hippest boutiques.

(Modeled by Ellen Schultz of Compai)

Take a large T-shirt and lay it down flat.
Fold the T-shirt in half lengthwise and mark the front, center with a pin on the collar.
Fold the T-shirt in half lengthwise and mark the front, center with a pin on the collar.

Pinch a fold in the center of the shirt, about 1 inch deep creating a pleat. Pin the pleat vertically (from the collar to the hemline) so that it stays in place.
Repeat until you have 4 pleats in the front, center of the t-shirt.
Starting from the bottom hem of the T-shirt, sew a horizontal line from right to left, sewing over the pleats so that they are facing the left.

Four inches above that line, sew another horizontal line, this time from left to right, sewing the pleats down so that they are facing the right.

Repeat the horizontal lines until reaching the collar of the shirt.
Okay…almost done! Now, using a zigzag stitch sew two large “S” shapes, starting from the collar, down to the hemline, feeding the t-shirt fabric into the stitches to create tiny gathered pleats into the stitches.
Now, if you like the look of this top as a tank, cut off the sleeves around the sleeve hemline to get this edgy look.