Posts Tagged ‘fringe benefits’

DIY No-Sew Laced Up Tank Top

Mark your calendars: October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Whether you walk, run, or responsibly conduct a breast self exam for the cause (do it once a month!) here’s a T-shirt transformation tutorial (plus a bonus throwback at the end!) to honor all of you making a difference and supporting those affected by breast cancer.

OuterLace Tank Top finish

Just set aside an old baggy T-shirt, a pair of scissors, and in 10 minutes you’ve got yourself a fitted tank top (inspired by the Outer Lace tank top in Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt). Get the team together and tie-dye and snip your way to its completion, then wear it for yourself, or wear it for a loved one–I know I will be!

megan-nicolay-blog-footer-1

Materials:
-plain white T-shirt
–Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye Fashion Art Kit (includes 2 shades of dye plus gloves and rubber bands, black dimensional fabric paint, glitter spray)
-sharp scissors
-2 safety pins

shirt materials generation-t.com

Make it:
1. Follow the kit instructions to tie-dye the T-shirt.
2. Click through to the step-by-step illustrated tutorial at the iLoveToCreate blog.

Outer Lace finish2 generation-t.com

Wear it with all your (ahem) breast friend! Shirt #2, below, is a variation of the Fringe Benefits shirt from Generation T and the Fringe Fabulous shirt from generation-t.com.

OuterLace finiah3 generation-t.com

 

 

[ Comments Off on DIY No-Sew Laced Up Tank Top | Posted on September 24th, 2014 ]

I-Love-the-’80s Fringe Fabulous T-shirts

It’s springtime, which means one thing to me: T-shirt weather! It’s an exciting time here in the Land of Generation T, because as many of you know, it only gets better: After spring comes summer, which means we all get a little more scantily clad — T-shirts turn into tank tops and tube tops and ooh-la-la! So grab your scissors (to cut away some of that extra fabric, of course), crank up the color (bring on those fabric spray paints), and hop in your fabulous fashion time machine, because fringe is enjoying a bit of a renaissance this season. Last weekend, I dialed back the decades and dug into my craft stash to make some classic ’80s-inspired geometric tees.

Materials:

-light-colored T-shirt (I used a light blue one)
-ruler
-masking tape
–fabric scissors
–fabric spray paint (variety of colors)
-scrap newsprint paper

Make it:

1. Lay the T-shirt flat. Use masking tape to mark a horizontal line about 8″ up from the bottom of the shirt. Find the vertical center of the shirt and apply tape to the chest-region of the T-shirt to create a crisscrossing geometric pattern.

2. Insert the newsprint paper between the layers of the T-shirt to prevent the paint from bleeding through. Then apply fabric spray paint over the taped area. Apply another color or two, then let dry.

3. Peel back the tape, and then lay down more tape (I cut the tape strips in half, thirds, and quarters to make thinner lines) across your pattern to create a modified plaid pattern. Then spray paint more color!

4. Let dry completely before peeling off the tape to reveal your design.

5. Cut off the bottom hem of the T-shirt, just above the stitching. Then, using the tape marker you pressed down in step 1 as your guide, cut 1/3″- to 1/2″-wide fringe from the bottom edge of the shirt.

6. Cut off the sleeve hems, just above the stitching, and cut out the neckband, just below the neckband edge in the front and the back, and about 2″ wider on the sides.

7. Gently tug on the fringe to stretch it out (the fabric edges will curl in). Try it on!

8. Grab up additional T-shirts and experiment with your paint patterns and fringe — cut it on a diagonal, in a chevron-inspired V-shape, make it long or short!

Then pack a picnic, sling your boombox over your shoulder, and turn up any of the decade’s Billboard hits!


[ 5 Comments | Posted on May 22nd, 2012 ]

From Our Readers: Flossie!

Last weekend, 14-year-old Flossie was recruited by her dad to help him sell barbecue books at Grillstock, a big BBQ festival in the U.K. Needless to say, the oversize T-shirt Flossie was offered to help promote books written by grilling guru (and fellow Workman author) Steven Raichlen wasn’t exactly her slice of pie.  She wisely refused the tee in its original state and slowly inched toward her scissors (and, of course, her copy of Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt). She came up with this no-sew classic hybrid design that combines project #1 “Scoop, There It Is” with project #4 “Fringe Benefits,” then topped it off by turning the tee around so the back logo (“Hot Enough For You?”) became the front. Totally hot, indeed!

[ Comments Off on From Our Readers: Flossie! | Posted on July 7th, 2011 ]