DIY Cut Out Heart Tank

The Before

The After

   I have a bit of a problem with shopping, like most girls out there. Not only do I shop constantly, I have a habit of getting things I don't wear as much as I should, because of style, inconvenience, and simply "not feeling like it". 
     This tank is one of my cast offs that falls into the category of inconvenience. When I bought it, I imagined wearing it as a coverup with my swimsuit, strolling on the beach. The problem with that was that we didn't really go to the beach this summer, and the tank ended up in the back of my closet, until I discovered it recently while cleaning my closet (to prepare for cramming it with even more clothes). As you can see, the back opening is rather large, and not exactly school appropriate. I loved the color and softness though, so I decided to reinvent it as a cut out heart tank.

Supplies Needed:

-The shirt/tank you plan to heart-ify
-Seam ripper (I lost mine so I used scissors)
-Pins
-Sewing machine (not pictured, you could probably do it w/o)

Optional:
-Water soluble pen to mark where you want to put the heart

 (Skip if you don't have a shirt with a confusing back) First, I laid my tank flat on a table, and envisioned where I need to cut to "untangle" the back. In this case, it was the seam in the top middle of the shirt, and shoulder seams on either end. 

To rip the seams, I find it's a lot easier if you stretch the fabric so that the seams are prominently displayed, like so. 

I cut the top middle and shoulder seams to detach the rolled parts from the rest of the shirt. I then unrolled them. 

Here is where having an iron would've made my job a lot easier. Unfortunately, I couldn't find that either, so I just smoothed it out with my hands to make pinning easier. 

  I then pinned the two sides together (you can see they're curling). This is where you would jump in if you just have a normal shirt/tank. I'm a fan of eyeballing, so I didn't draw on where I would put the heart, but you could if you want to make sure it'll turn out the way you wanted. 

     I sewed up the sides, leaving a gap in the middle for me to cut the heart. I started with one side, then went to the other. I wasn't really a huge fan of how the first side came out, but I was fortunate I cut it smaller, so I could go and fix it later. Another thing to remember is to make sure you're only cutting through one layer of fabric, not two, which has happened to me multiple times!
     Finally, I pulled the inside edges of the heart to make it curl and keep from fraying too much, and voila! The cut out heart tank is finished. 

Tank - Brandy Melville
Shorts - Pacsun/Bullhead
Bandeau - Urban Outfitters/Kimchi Blue

     Thanks for reading! Please comment and let me know what other posts you'd like to see, or what I could improve on, as I'm just starting out my blog. 

                                                  xx
                                           Angelina