Altered Striped Tank Tutorial

When it comes to fashion I am TOTALLY obsessed with stripes- it is actually a little crazy how many different variations of striped shirts I have in my closet. And I also love pairing stripes with florals- there is something a little whimsical about stripes and flowers- they are so opposite they somehow make sense together- at least in my opinion. With summer here I am always looking for different ways to alter a cheap tank top and after finding a $7.00 striped tank at Target I knew I would be embellishing it with hand painted flowers and messy stitching.

I purchased a striped tank top in a size large and while I am a size small, I like room in my tanks. I have also found that if you are buying cheaper cotton tanks, buying a couple sizes bigger keeps them from shrinking after washing to a tiny little tank top that you will never wear again!

Next I painted a bright floral design on fabric with dye and fabric paint.

Variation- if you are not up for painting your own flowers- skip the painting and find some fabric with big, bold and colorful flowers.

Once my fabric was dry and the color was heat set, I cut out the flowers to use as applique on the surface of my tank top.

Since I had so many flowers that I planned on sewing up the side of my tank, I needed something to use for stability, something to keep them in the arrangement that I liked and to make it easier to sew. I had fusible interfacing on hand so I used a piece and laid it down on my tank (so I could see through) and then arranged my flowers in the way that I wanted to sew them to the surface.

Next, I ironed the flowers (lightly and carefully) to the interfacing (not to the tank) just to tac them in the arrangement which again made it a little easier for me to sew and for stability.

Variation- You just could pick one big flower to sew- this would be much easier than lots and lots of flowers - not gonna lie- it's a little challenging!
OR

if you don't want to bother with any sewing you could also use a product like Heat and Bond and just iron on the flowers.

Once the flowers were attached to the interfacing, I trimmed the excess interfacing from the edges of the flowers and set it aside.

Next, I trimmed off the sides and the straps of the tank because I eventually wanted sew everything back together with colorful stitches on the outside- this is optional.

I pinned my floral arrangement to the front of the tank top.

And then I sewed everything down with my darning foot- with lots and LOTS of messy stitches.

The last step was to sew the front, sides and straps back together and with red zig zag stitches on the outside.

And there you have it- a little piece of wearable art that I can add to my collection of stripes!

If you are in the mood for more tutorials, a group of my creative pals are posting tutorials all week long- each day linking to more tutorials- We are calling it a tutorial tsunami!! Today Lyric Kinard has an amazing post about how to transform leather shoes into art- LOVE IT!

Also Diana Trout, Melly Testa and Jane LaFazio have more tutorials to keep you inspired!

I'll be tweeting about the rest of the tutes as they are posted- HAPPY CREATING!