Fashion DIY: Patchwork Halter Top

Patchwork Halter Top

This DIY has been on my to-do list for months but I've never quite found the time. Thanks to a notification from the NHS Track and Trace app, I've suddenly found myself with a lot more time... so I finally gave this a go. All it took was 3 old T-Shirts, and a little bit of maths!

I started by finding 3 old tops at the end of their life, that I could turn into something new! I chose to use one pink top and two whit ones, but you can use any colours you like - you could even have a go at tie dyeing some fabric!

The first job was to cut the bulk of the tops into 3 inch strips that I could then cut into 3 inch by 3 inch squares. Once you get to the upper back and sleeves, you'll need to cut the squares out one by one. Don't worry too much about the squares being exactly even, just get them close enough. 

This takes absolutely forever, I'm sorry!!

One you've cut up all of the fabric you'll have a whole pile of little squares. I calculated you need at least 150 to make a wearable top. 

The next job is to sort all of these squares into little piles to make sure you have enough for each part of the top. 

I had:

    2 piles of 25 squares for the band

    6 piles of 16 squares for the "sleeves"

Try to get a got mix of colours in your piles but again theres no need for it to be perfectly even.

Then it's time to turn each pile into a strip!

 

First I sewed pairs, then I sewed pairs into fours, and then I sewed them all into one long strip. I used my overlocker to do this (it saves time by sewing and trimming the edges, as well as leaving the exposed seam I was looking for) although if you don't have an overlocker, you can just use a zigzag stitch on your machine and trim the edges by hand. You'll want to trim as close to the stitching as possible if you want a nice exposed seam.

Once you have sewn the strips you can attach them together. You'll want to attach the two longer strip to create a band two squares deep. You'll then do similar for the sleeves, although these will be three squares across. 

Once you have your 3 strips, one long and 2 deep, and two shorter and 3 deep, you are ready to construct the top! 

However, before you attach anything, you need to finish the edges on the 2 thicker section. To do this, I overlocked up the two long edges and the along the top. Once you've done this to both, you can move on to attaching it to the band.

I folded the longer strip in half to find the mid point and then worked out how far apart I wanted the two sides. I just eyeballed this but it ended up being about 3 inches. I then pinned the raw edge of the two sides to the band and overlocked the whole length, attaching the top. Then you just need to finish the remaining edges of the band, cut any loose threads, and try it on!

If you try this DIY I'd love to see it! Tag me on Instagram of Tiktok @Garceyy

 Jersey/Tee Fabric, dyed 3/4 colours, 7.5cm x 7.5cm squares, 2 deep, 3 wide strips overlocked.