Toddler Sun Top

I have been sewing a few things for my girls for spring and summer. Spring showed up a few weeks ago with some beautiful weather and then disappeared. We are back to cold here in KY and it was 40 degrees out when I snapped this picture of the Cakers. This top is made out of a womens t-shirt and takes less than an hour to make. It can be embellished any way you'd like. (I will be posting an applique tutorial and flower tutorial later on this week).

Here is what you need:

T-shirt any size will work, the fullness of the shirt will change a little

thread

1 inch elastic

cutting mat

rotary cutter

pins

safety pin

1. First lay out your t-shirt flat on your cutting mat, make sure seams and edges are even.

2. To make the body of the shirt, cut off area below the sleeves. The length of the shirt depends on how long this piece is. So you want to cut it as close to under the sleeves as possible for the most length. Then cut off sleeves, leaving the neck and chest area for straps.

3. To make the straps cut off neck and shoulder area of t-shirt.

4. To make straps, fold fabric piece in half matching the longer edges togeter. Sew along one bottom end and along long side. Turn right side out and iron. Ironing will give it a nice edge. I used a straigt stitch rather than a zig-zag on the straps. I amde another one using a zig-zag and it stretched out the knit fabric and it didn't look as nice.

5. To make a casing for the elasic fold over the top of your fabric 1 1/2 inches and pin in place. Sew along bottom edge , leaving a small opening for the elastic to go through.

6. Measure your model just under the armpits to get your elastic length. With a safety pin, push elastic through the casing.

7. Sew in the ends of the elastic togeter and sew up casing.

8. Lay top out flat and pin straps equal distance in from the sides of the top. At this point I carefully tried the top on my 2 year old to see how long the straps needed to be. I pinned it in back as well. Sew the straps along the fold lines through all layers including the elastic.

9. Pin Straps in back and stitch in place. I stitched up and down along the gathered folds. You can also not cross the straps in back and just pin them straight and stitch.

This is the finished project. I will post a tutorial on how to applique and make the fabric flower later this week. Totally easy to do, if your sewing machine can do a zig-zag stitch. Embellish however you like.