Tank Top from Button-Up Shirt

I've inherited a ton of my husband's old button-up shirts, and I've wanted to do something with them.  There are a million projects I have in mind, and I finally got around to trying one.  I found this tutorial on Pinterest, and it was very straight forward with the instructions!

Here's the shirt I started out with.

The first thing to do is cut off the sleeves.

Then cut straight across the armpits.

I sliced the sleeves open and laid them flat.  

Then I cut a 3" or 4" band that was about 15" or 20" across, from each sleeve.

I folded one side up a 1/4" and ironed it flat.  Repeat for the second band.  

Then, I zigzag stitched the hem.

Sew the two bands together, right side to right side.

Moving onto the body.  The first thing I did was sew up the front of the buttons, ensuring that it will lay flat and not peek when I'm wearing it.  I used brown thread.



Next, I pinned the bodice to the band, starting with lining up the seams.  For the front, I tucked in about an inch to an inch and a half into a pleat on the side.  For the back, I had the material meet in the middle, and made a large pleat (probably five inches or so).





Sew it together.






For the sleeves, I took the remaining part of the shirt's actual sleeves and trimmed them roughly into rectangles.





I folded both sides up twice and ironed.



I used the same zigzag stitch to hem the sides.



I put the shirt on and fitted the sleeves in place with pins.  (Having someone help you makes this much easier.)



I (poorly) zigzagged the sleeve in place.




And there you have it!




And just for fun.




~Buttons