Craftinated: Halter Top from an Old T-shirt

I love halter tops on babies. Just so cute! I mean, look from behind!

I was in the mood for making something the other night, but I wasn't sure what. So I dug around in my stash and found this shirt of Kyle's that I had saved. I figured with just a little girlification, it would be great to pass on to Eliza.

I followed this tutorial at The Green Wife as a basic guide for making my halter top.

First, I cut the front of the t-shirt:

Then, I cut a rectangle from the back of the shirt:

I folded down the top edge of the rectangle (opposite the hem) and stitched to make a casing. I used my water-soluble fabric pen to make a straight line to make sure I was stitching straight.

Then I threaded some 1/4" elastic through the casing and set it aside.

Next, I took a different shirt and cut three strips from it, about 2" wide. I folded them in half lengthwise, pressed, then opened them up and pressed each side toward the middle line. Then I folded it in half again and re-pressed. (Basically, making a sort of bias tape, except it wasn't actually cut on the bias.)

I cut one of the strips to about the same size as the top edge of the shirt and attached it like bias tape.

Then I took the remaining two strips and, starting at the underarm curve, pinned them to the front piece. I wasn't sure how long I needed the straps to be, so I left them as long as possible. I trimmed them later after I had tried the shirt on Eliza, although I left them a little long because I just love the big bow. Anyway, I stitched the entire length of the strip to attach it and make the straps.

Next I grabbed the back piece and figured out how tight I wanted the elastic to be. I don't have a measurement; I just guessed, and in hindsight, I probably should have made it a little tighter. Luckily, the sizing is very forgiving for this style of shirt. I tacked the elastic in place with a few stitches on each side.

Then I pinned the back piece to the front piece, right sides facing.

Finally, I stitched the side seams. I finished it off with a zig-zag stitch to make sure the seams were strong.

And I was finished! It was really easy!

Then, I decided she needed some matching shorts. I had plenty of fabric left over from the second t-shirt, so I made some simple shorts following this tutorial by the Sewing Dork on Brown Paper Packages (except, obviously, I made them shorts-length and didn't do the pocket or the apron). I didn't take pictures because her tutorial is wonderful. If you want to make pants or shorts, just use her tutorial. One thing that made the shorts super-fast to whip up was that I used the existing hem on the t-shirt as the hem for the shorts.

But I couldn't leave well enough alone. I tried to leave the shorts plain, but something was bugging me. I finally appeased myself and added some little ruffle bows with buttons. Just enough of an extra something so they weren't completely plain.

Eliza wore the outfit to the amusement park yesterday. It was a hot day, but she stayed pretty comfy in her halter top.

I think soon I'm going to make her another one out of a longer shirt, so it can be a dress. Won't that be cute?

OK, just one more picture, and then I'll stop.