Knotted Fringe Tee

Reconstructing the T-shirt is a favorite past time of mine, the outcome being endless. I'm going to show you how to create a Knotted Fringe Tee, one of my takes on a classic style. 

You are going to need an over sized Tee, I normally where an XS and I'm using one that is equivalent to a size M-L.

Here are some helpful tools that every T-shirt re-constructer should acquire, a rotary mat and a rotary cutter.(Thanks to my friend Christina!) The mat protects the surface you are cutting on and the cutter,almost resembling a pizza cutter, rolls along fabric and gives off an even edge.

Place the mat on a flat surface and lay the shirt out evenly.

The rotary mat has inches already measured out for you. Line up the bottom hem of the shirt to 1 inch and cut it straight across.

Your shirt should look like this.

Take a ruler and measure out about 3 inches from the under arm seem. Mark with chalk.

Line up ruler with chalk marking and extend the line across the shirt.

This will be your guide line.

Use the rotary mat and cutter. Begin to cut 1 inch strips up the shirt. Stop at the chalk drawn guideline.

You should end with an even number of strips, I cut 20. It's okay if some are a bit smaller than an inch wide, as long as you make sure you have an even amount.

Use scissors to cut along the hem on the sides of the shirt. The hem is your guideline. Repeat on the other side.

Hang up the shirt. A door handle or back of a chair will work well.

 Now the knotting begins. I completed a few on the first row. Start from the seam under the arm. Take two strips exactly next to each other.

Cross.

Tie.

Knot...

...and repeat to double the knot.

The finished row will look like this.

Flip to the back.

Start from the hem under the arm and repeat the process.

Finished row will look like this.

Flip back to the front and begin the second row of knots by grasping two strips that are again next to each other.

Cross.

Tie...

...and knot.

Cross.

Tie...

...and knot.

Continue grasping, crossing, and knotting till you finish the second row.

Flip to the back repeat till the second row is finished.

Finished second row will look like this.

Keep on grasping the strips, tying, knotting, and flipping sides until you reach your desired fringe length. That's the beauty of DIY, it's over when you say it is. I completed 6 rows.

I paired this top over a navy long sleeved body-con dress. It will also look great with a high waisted skirt, pants, or shorts. 

If you are feeling daring you can wear it with low rise jeans. Makes a cute summer crop top, or beach cover up over a bathing suit.

Take Care.

XO

How to stud an article of clothing.

On the menu today, we have an old thrift find I discovered about 3 years ago at The Salvation Army in Middletown, NY. A little black, little boys blazer--a petite young lady's dream, really. I already have two black blazers, this one being more fitted, so i thought why not add some edge to it.

I decided to mix it up and do a combination of brass and silver hardware, that way I  don't have to go crazy about which jewelry matches or not (an old obsession of mine).  The studs i will be using are from studsandspikes.com. Shipping was lightning quick.

Before doing anything, I like to layout the pattern I will be executing. It's acts as a visual of the finished product and gives you an idea of what works for the garment. Of course this is entirely up to you, and what you want the end result to be.

Some of the studs points may be too dull to manually insert into the fabric you are working with, thats where a good knife comes into play. In this case the silver ones needed some assistance.

Here we go! Press the stud into the starting point of the fabric to make a perforation.

Pierce the fabric using the guidelines of the perforations.

Some of the prongs of the stud may need to be straightened out before placing into the fabric. This can simply be done with a pair of pliers.  

Press the stud through the holes you created.

Now bring the pliers back into the game, and get ready to bend the prongs of the stud to set it in place.

The next stud I like to place is what i call "the end point stud". If this is done, there is no way you can screw up the pattern you want to accomplish.

Now you are ready for the brass studs. The points on these were sharp enough to pierce the fabric on there own. You are just going to repeat the whole process as shown above.

One pocket done!

Fin!

Remember that you can always go and add more to your creation, but with a lot of D.I.Y. projects, especially ones involving clothing, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible to go back and make changes. Once you cut into a shirt--that's that. I myself have ruined amazing clothing attempting to create something more from it. It's just a matter of learning from your mistakes, and remembering to do it better next time. Never give up!

I went ahead and added some more. I'm sort of obsessed :)

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