DIY: Knotty T-Shirt Dress

T-shirts are so freakin’ versatile that I sometimes get overwhelmed with all the possibilities. And then I turn on my DIY brain, and I almost short circuit. I have a book called “Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt,” and it blows my mind because they tell you how to make a wedding dress out of T-shirts. A WEDDING DRESS. Since a wedding isn’t even something that is real to me on Pinterest, I decided to just make a cute party dress out of a T-shirt instead.

Gather your belongings:

• A T-shirt (I had to get an XL so that it was long enough)
• Scissors (or if you are fancy like me, you actually have fabric shears) 
• Needle and thread (I needed this to take the dress in a bit)

Once you have effectively taken up almost the entire lounge on your floor of your dorm by strategically placing your stuff everywhere, you may begin! Lay your shirt out on the ground and unholster your trusty shears. Cut one sleeve about a half-inch to one inch away from the seam on the bottom, cutting on an upward angle so that there is about two inches of sleeve outside the seam at the top of the arm seam. Now you have this handy dandy scrap piece of sleeve. This is a great tool for measuring how much to cut off from the next sleeve. Just slap that puppy down on the uncut sleeve, line it up with the edge of the sleeve and cut along the cut edge of that sleeve.

Now that your sleeves are successfully shortened, time to cut the T-shirt in half. I cut my shirt about an inch below the bottom seam of the sleeve so that there was enough in the bottom half to effectively cover my butt and not look hoochie. This will also leave the top half at around the perfect length so that the little openings at the side will nicely show off your waist. 

Now that you have two pieces of T-shirt, it’s time to reattach them to make it one piece again! First you have to create a little hole at the bottom of the top piece of your shirt. Pinch a small section in the center of the shirt right near the cut edge. Snip that little pinched area, and cut the slip a little bit longer if you need to, so that you can thread the other half of the shirt through it. 

Hold your horses there, you eager little Glosser. You first have to create a slit in the bottom piece of your shirt. Cut a slit about two or two-and-a-half inches long in the top center of the shirt. Now for the aforementioned threading. Thread one-half of the slitted fabric through the hole on the top half of the shirt. Tie a double knot with the other half of the slitted part of the shirt. 

You basically have your shirt dress now! The Pinterest pin shows the example shirt just working out after doing this because the shirt is probably American Apparel and is long and slimmer in shape. I had to take in the back of the bottom piece by about 3 inches, and I took the sleeves in by about an inch or a bit more. I did this by doing a simple running stitch, and I used a whip stitch for the open edge of the sleeve. Check out the pictures for this one because once again I have a difficulty with explaining how to sew. 

Once you have done the whole sewing business and you have done a couple of quick changes in your study room to make sure it fits right, you have completed this simple T-shirt dress! It is super cute and flirty with the cut-out back and sides and wants to be paired with one of your favorite bandeaus or bralettes. Spring is calling, and your DIY is answering it with a really cute wave. As always, happy crafting, and go Tigers! MIZ-DIY!

This tutorial is part of Veronica DeStefano's weekly DIY column, inspired by projects found on Pinterest.com.
By: Veronica DeStefano | Images: Veronica DeStefano | Pin: Source | Instructions: Source