DIY Anthropologie shirt- NO pattern!

I saw a knockoff of this shirt floating around, but the instructions were wrong. They were super simple, easier than mine even, but they wouldn't lay right if someone were to actually do them. I decided to right the wrong and make my own!

I used the extra fabric from the dress that will be featured Friday (insanely easy...) because it's what I had on hand. If you *really* want this shirt to be gorgeous, I suggest that you use chiffon or jersey, something more fluid that lays nicely. This is a much stiffer fabric. It's also a bit shorter than I'd like, but again that's because it was remnant fabric.

STEP ONE:
Choose a loose-fitting tank top from your wardrobe. If you haven't got one, just use any tank top and then add 4-6 inches on each side, tapering it so that it's angling downward (tighter at the top and looser at the bottom). Fold your fabric in half and place your tank on your fabric. Trace it out, adding an extra inch all around for seam allowance. You'll notice that I started where the straps turn into the underarms. You need the curve of the underarm, but no straps. The ribbon becomes your strap. Remember, if you're using a flowy material, the wider you make the tubing (top/collar), the more you can bunch it together. This fabric wouldn't flow right if I made it *too* wide. But, I really would have preferred it to look more bunched. The next time around, it will!

Pin inside of the traced lines





STEP TWO:

Pin around the entire thing from the INSIDE of where you traced about an inch. Once it's all pinned, cut along your line.


STEP THREE:


Tubing, pinned

Pin your tubing. In order to lace the ribbon through the top, you'll need to create a tube at the top of the front and back. Simply fold over the top 1.5 inches and pin in place (fold it so that the top end touches the 'ugly/traced' side where you'll do all of the hemming. You should leave more room than I had, add an extra 1.5 inches straight up at the top. I had to make it work since I had a limited amount of fabric left, but you have the opportunity to make it perfect! If the directions seem unclear, reference the picture. You can see the two tubes fold away from each other and the fabric is pinned down on to the ugly side, the side that will be inside when you've finished sewing and turn the shirt right side out. It may be more helpful once you start sewing to move the pins higher on the tubing so that you can sew as close to the bottom as possible. You want room in your tube for the ribbon to go through easily.

STEP FIVE:

Stitch the tubes in place, then hem your underarms and the bottom of the shirt. After that, stitch the sides up. I didn't hem the underarms, instead I used Fray Check. Normally I would, but because I had to scrimp on the fabric toward the top, I didn't think it would look good. The type of fabric I used made it easy to do that, but if you use the chiffon or jersey, you'll need to hem *everything*.

STEP SIX:

Push your ribbon through both sides of the tube. It will help to use a closed pen or something else to push the ribbon through. Connect the ribbon on the front (either side), knot and tie a pretty bow! Also, use clear nail polish or Fray Check on the edges of your ribbon so that it stays pretty. Lastly, you have the option of sewing tubing from excess fabric to use as ribbon. This would be really pretty and make the shirt look more expensive, but I wanted to use my excess fabric for another project. If you want to do that, just fold over a long strip of fabric (or connect two to make a really long strip) and then sew along the sides. Push them inside out and stitch up the ends.

I can't wait to try this again with a different fabric. It would be great to make and give these away as well. The fit of the shirt allows for a lot of variance in size.

That's all from me today... have a wonderfully warm afternoon!

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