Ruffle Edged T-Shirt

I wanted a cute/edgy shirt for my daughter to wear for the motorcycle themed pictures we were taking today...so I picked up a leopard print bandanna at Walmart this week. I intended to make a full top out of the bandanna...but last night (at 10:30pm) I was feeling uninspired...so I found an old shirt that had a stain on the bottom and decided to embellish that instead:)

The way I cut this was a little weird just because I wanted the longest possible ruffles. If you want to make something like this out of regular material off the bolt...then you can just cut regular rectangles for your desired length...but if you only have a bandanna like me...then here we go!

1. Cut the bandanna in half diagonally.

2. Cut three more strips on each side of your center cut. I made mine about 3" wide. Save the end triangles for a cute applique or something for later:)

Now you should have six strips in three different sizes (2 in each size).

3. Take the two smaller strips, fold in the bottom hem 1/4", iron, and then fold in another 1/4" and sew with a straight stitch.

4. With right sides facing, sew up the sides of the strips so that it is a rectangle. You want the finished size to be the exact width of the t-shirt.

5. Repeat with the other strips.

6. Take your medium strip, and with it inside out, place the raw edge along where you want it to be on your shirt. Match up the side seams on your strip with the side seams on the shirt and pin.

7. Evenly pin the strip across the front of the shirt and sew into place.

Here is what it looks like when it is flipped down the right way.

8. Repeat on the backside.

9. Now take the longest strip and repeat the same process.

Here is what it looks like after both ruffles are attached.

10. Take your smallest strip and fold in the other raw edge 1/4" and sew in place.

11. Place that strip right side out over the top edge of your top ruffle. Sew into place along the top and bottom of the strip.

The shirt still looked a little too plain for me so I added some elastic to the top to make it look more like a little skirt shirt (remember those from the 80s?? Awesome!)

I cut some elastic the same size as my daughter's waist, sewed the two ends together, flipped it right side out and sewed it on over the top edge of my top strip. I sewed along the bottom and top of the elastic.

And that's it!

I paired it with her faux leather leggings and headband for our motorcycle pictures tonight. They brought out a large toy Harley for her to pose with. I think it was the first time she cried when pictures were over!

Afterwards we went to McDonald's since it was my cheat night (yay!) and I didn't feel like changing her in the car...so we got a few weird looks (like..."you really put your daughter in leather pants?!") but a lot of compliments too:)

Total price: $1.00

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