5 Tank Tops from Recycled Men’s T-Shirts
I have a tank top from Target that I love. I bought it about 5 years ago, in white — not a very practical color for a mom like me who is always in the kitchen or hugging children that are covered in red clay dirt. And also it is a little tight and a little short which only works for wearing underneath other shirts. So I don’t wear it that often.
This morning I transferred the Target tank top to paper. I lowered the underarm point by about 1/2″ because it was too high. I added another 1/2″ of ease to both the front and back, so it would be a little looser fitting than the original. And finally, I added about 2″ to the length. Here are the five tanks I made from the pattern.
The fabric was really cheap. Each tank cost me about $2 or $3, because I used recycled t-shirts purchased from Goodwill. I bought a bunch of men’s short sleeve t-shirts (sizes M, L and XL) a couple of weeks ago. I picked t-shirts without any screen printing or emblems, without pockets, out of soft knit and in pretty good condition. Once home, I washed them and then cut them apart at the side, armhole, and shoulder seams.
Using my paper pattern (from copying the Target tank), I cut out a new front & back from the front & back of the old t-shirt. After cutting these out, there wasn’t enough of any T left to offer long enough strips for matching binding, so I cut binding strips (for the neckline and armholes) from the front or back of another t-shirt. In the case of the tanks with the black contrast binding, those were strips cut from t-shirt knit I already had.
I constructed the tanks using my serger and coverstitch machine. The serger did the shoulder and side seams. The coverstitch machine attached the binding around the neck & arm openings using the binder accessory. I didn’t have to redo the hem because when cutting out the tank, I lined up the hem-line of the pattern with the existing hem of the t-shirt.
I figured since I was adding a contrasting color for the binding that I may as well use a contrasting color for the stitching, too. This made me nervous because mistakes stand out with contrast top-stitching. But the coverstitch machine did a great job on all this stitching and it looks beautiful.
Here’s me wearing the grey t-shirt with the black contrast binding. What you’re seeing is my reflection in the full length mirror. Sorry, you don’t get to see my face and you’ll be glad — my nose is red and raw from this horrible allergy season.
Okay, so I got 5 “new” tank tops for about $12, give or take. I used 6 t-shirts and some black knit scraps. I’m combing the racks to find more to create t-shirts and tanks for the kids this summer.
Wardeh - you are so clever!!! Very cute!! ~ Traci
Well, I am impressed.
They look great.
These are nice and what a creative way of making them..good for you!!
these look fabulous! great job on recycling fabric.
teri
Wardeh! these are great!!
Wardeh!
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
Have a lovely week.
Michelle
Wow! These look perfect. There are a lot of things I love about your pattern, compared to ready to wear tanks. It looks like a comfortable fit, there is enough width at the shoulders to cover any undergarment straps, and the armholes are not cut too low. Also, the neckline looks like just the right height.
I wonder if I could do something like this without the serger or coverstitch machine. I’ve got three grown men who generate a lot of old t-shirts in this house.
I think you could — using your stretch stitch on your sewing machine. I am not sure what you’d do about binding the armholes, but you can do a regular neckband. Here are 2 articles from Threads that have good info for using knits and making t-shirts using a sewing machine, including doing the neckband. I’m sure some of it would apply. I will have to think about the binding around the armholes, though. Do you have a binder accessory for your machine or could you get one?
A Primer on Knits
Not Your Ordinary T-Shirt
I would be happy to mail you a paper copy of this pattern and you could adjust it to fit you. If you email me your address, I’ll send it soon. Send your address to my email: wardeh@suchtreasures.com.
Love, Wardeh
How neat! You have such a creative knack. They turned out looking really nice.
(((HUGS to you)))
Those are incredible, Wardeh! I am so impressed.
What a cool idea! My teen boys are always outgrowing their t-shirts. I might have to try this. Thanks for sharing!
That was quite a bargain, this is great though. I’ve been looking for places where I could by recycled t-shirts for my Ecology club… now I know where. GOODWILL!! Thanks!