Alright, so let me tell you about this little project I did. I had this Lana Del Rey shirt from Walmart. You know the ones, pretty standard fan merch, but hey, it’s Lana.
Thing is, as a regular t-shirt, it was just kinda… there. I bought it, wore it maybe once or twice, and then it just hung out in my closet. I liked the graphic, of course, but the fit wasn’t doing it for me. Too boxy, or something. I kept thinking, “I gotta do something with this.”
Figuring It Out and Getting Started
Then it hit me: tube top! It’s summer, everyone’s rocking them, and I figured the graphic would look cool. Plus, it’s a good way to actually get some use out of the shirt. So, I decided to just go for it. What’s the worst that could happen, right? Ruin a Walmart shirt? I’ve done worse.
First thing, I laid the shirt out flat on my floor. Spread it out nice and even. The main goal here was to make sure Lana’s face, or whatever graphic it was, ended up front and center on the tube top. That’s the whole point, really.
I grabbed my fabric scissors – you need sharp ones for this, trust me. Dull scissors just chew up the fabric and make a mess. I sort of eyeballed where I wanted the top of the tube top to be, making sure I had enough fabric above the graphic to fold over for an elastic casing. Then I took a deep breath and made the first cut. Straight across the chest, basically lopping off the sleeves and the neck collar in one go. No turning back now!
Once the top part was off, I looked at the length. I wanted it cropped, but not too cropped. So I tried it on, kinda holding it up against myself, and marked where I wanted the bottom hem to be. Then, another straight cut across the bottom. Now I had a rectangle of fabric with Lana on it.
Making it Wearable
Okay, so now the important part: making it stay up. Elastic is your friend here. I decided to make a casing for the elastic along the top edge. So, I folded the top edge over, maybe about an inch, towards the inside of the shirt. Pinned it in place.
I dragged out my trusty old sewing machine. You could totally do this by hand with a needle and thread if you’re patient, but I like things quick. I just stitched along the edge of the fold, leaving a little opening, like a tiny tunnel, all the way around. This is where the elastic goes.
Next, I took some quarter-inch elastic. Measured it around my chest, under my arms, where the top of the tube top would sit. You want it snug enough to hold the top up, but not so tight that you can’t breathe or it digs in. Cut the elastic.
Then, the classic trick: safety pin on one end of the elastic, and then I threaded it all the way through that little tunnel I sewed. Once it was all the way through, I overlapped the ends of the elastic by about half an inch and stitched them together securely. Zig-zag stitch works best for this, so it can still stretch.
After the elastic was a complete circle, I just pulled it so the joined part went inside the casing, and then I sewed up that little opening I’d left for threading. For the bottom edge, I just did a simple fold-over hem and stitched it. Could have left it raw, I guess, for a grungier look, but I felt like finishing it.
And that was pretty much it! My very own Lana Del Rey Walmart shirt, now a tube top. It actually turned out way better than I expected. It fits great, the graphic looks cool, and I’ve already worn it out a couple of times. Beats it just sitting in a drawer, collecting dust. Plus, it feels good to make something yourself, you know? Even if it’s just from an old t-shirt. Totally worth the effort.
