DIY Tank Top with an Old Tee... No Sewing!

I was adoring all the handmade tank tops and came across a method that I wanted to try on Crafterhours. It requires only a straight stitch and, since I don't truly know how to sew, it seemed perfect! However, once I went to to sew I found that my Sewing machine was jammed...not surprising- it was my grandmothers. Sooo, I needed to be crafty myself and found a lovely way to make an adorable top with no sewing necessary!

I raided my husband's drawers, dresser drawers that is, and found a few T-shirts he never wears. I found a plain white tee for my first experiment. I cut off the sleeves first.

The sleeve bindings make great headbands!

Then I cut off the top completely.

And then I cut off the bottom binding which I saved to use later. 

Ok, this is where I had to improvise. I cut the tops of the tee into strips, each about an inch or so thick. You will need an even number on both sides.

Now this is the fun part. I used the binding for the bottom of the tee to tie the strips around (cut the binding so it is one long strip or use ribbon/string/whatever you want).

Start with either side of the shirt, front or back, it doesn't matter. What you want to do is use the over/under method when tying the strips around the binding/ribbon. You will use strips from the same side of the tee. Grab the first strip (over the binding) and the strip next to it (under the binding) and tie these two together. Repeat with the next two strips only this time the first of the next two strips should be under the binding with the second of this set over the binding. I hope this makes sense, hopefully the pictures help.

Continue tying the strips over/under the binding. 

 Eventually you will have something that looks like this:

 As you can see, I had a little helper in my lap instructing me when to go over...or was it under...

Bring the binding around to the other side and continue. The binding ends should meet at the side/shoulder. I tied these ends together into a bow and realized ribbon would look much better, so I connected the end of the binding to my ribbon and pulled it through to replace the binding.

I ended up with this:

I decided it was a bit too baggy, so I placed a button on one side where I gathered some extra fabric.

I'm going to try different ribbons and materials to see what I can come up with. I think a long satin ribbon would be beautiful to have draped down the back. I'll post some pictures when I try that. 

I hope you try this and can improve on it. Share your pictures with me!

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