Posts Tagged ‘Christmas tree T-shirt’

DIY: A Holiday Tree-Shirt!

Coming off Thanksgiving, a holiday that many people abbreviate to “T-Day,” of course makes me think of T-shirts….and how EVERY DAY is Tee Day! So, move over scratchy holiday sweater. Here’s a simple, no-sew holiday T-shirt (ahem, tree-shirt) that I designed as part of Homemade Holiday 101 (#homemade101). It combines techniques from the Brokenhearted tee in Generation T (project #2) and Back in Action tee in Generation T: Beyond Fashion (project #101).

Holiday Tree-Shirt finish generation-t.com

(OH, and…CLICK THROUGH TO HOMEMADE HOLIDAY 101 where the Generation T and Generation T: Beyond Fashion ebooks are on sale for $2.99 for a limited time!)

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Materials:
-Red fitted T-shirt (mine has a small percentage Lycra)
-Green fitted tank top (or similar, to layer underneath)
-Disappearing ink fabric marker or fabric chalk marker
-Ruler/ straightedge
-Fabric scissors
-Safety pin or 1″ round pin

holiday shirt materials generation-t.com

Make it:

1. Turn the T-shirt inside out and, using the straightedge, draw an isosceles triangle with a small rectangle at the bottom (aka, a simplified evergreen tree shape). My tree is about 7″ across at its widest.

holiday shirt 1 generation-t

2. Use the straightedge again to mark horizontal lines from the base of the tree to the top, about 1/2″ to 3/4″ apart.

holiday shirt 3 generation-t.com

3. Cut along the horizontal lines only, making sure to cut through only the top layer of the shirt.

holiday shirt 5 generation-t.com

4. Cut all the way to the top, making a small snip (about 1/4″) at the peak of the tree. Tug gently at the sides of your T-shirt to stretch out the strips (so they curl a little).

holiday shirt 6 generation-t.com

5. Turn the T-shirt right side out, and layer the green tank top underneath so you can see the shape of the tree clearly. You can stop right here and have a terrific-looking slashed tee, but forge on for another minute to get the woven effect: Take the first two strips at the trunk of your tree and loop strip #2 under strip #1. Drop strip #1. Then loop strip #3 under strip #2, dropping strip #2. And so on…

holiday shirt 8 generation-t.com

6. …to the top! Safety pin the second-to-last loop through the top snip. Tuck the safety pin inside so it shows less, or embrace the shiny bit of sparkle. Or, for a little more flair, trim your tree with a personalized 1″ round pin (replacing the safety pin).

holiday shirt finish generation-t.com

7. Try it on. Then….Go sing carols! Bake cookies! Replace the safety pin at the top with a sparkly brooch so you have a shining star up on the highest bow!

Holiday Tree-Shirt finish 3 generation-t.com

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[ 5 Comments | Posted on December 2nd, 2013 ]