I absolutely love all of the cute embellished T-shirts we’re seeing this season.  In my book, there’s nothing more comfortable than a soft cotton T-shirt, which is only made better when it’s cute enough to pair with a skirt for work or to dress up a pair of jeans for happy hour.  But the price tag can be more than a little disheartening. So what’s a girl to do? Make it myself, of course!  When you make it yourself, not only can you customize the shirt to make it exactly what I want, but you can also do it for about a quarter of the price you’ll see in a store.

A few weeks ago at the JCrew outlet they had their Favorite T’s on sale for $7.99.  Bingo! Their T’s are thick, soft cotton and wash and wear really well, season after season. I picked up a few, including a plain white V-Neck.  In my mind I envisioned something really girly that I could wear under a suit or with few of my summer skirts.   I saw a few shirts that used grosgrain ribbon, so I decided to give it a whirl.

I went to Michaels, and picked up some grey and light pink ribbon – I love this color combo; it reminds me of aerobics gear from the early ‘80s.  The vision in my head was of the ribbon cascading down one side – subtle enough to just peak out under my new navy suit jacket or favorite pink Jackie cardigan.

(On a total side note, I’ve been made fun of for wearing cardigans my whole life. Yes, I have 15 different ones I currently sport.  And yes, I wear them with pearls while I drink too many gins. Don’t judge.)

And now, back to business:

Here’s how I made it!

You’ll need:

• T-shirt or tank top

• Grosgrain ribbon, about ¼ inch wide.
• Needle with thread. (Prepare before you start, it will be easier.)
  • The thread should be the color of your ribbon or close to it. And get a strong needle, not one that comes in a hotel travel kit.  Too flimsy.
• Fabric Glue.  (This will seem messy and not very useful during the process, but I found that it really helped hold the ribbon in place through my shirt’s many washer and dryer cycles.)

Directions:

• Cut a piece of ribbon off to work with, about a foot long.
• Starting at one end, fold a bit of the ribbon in the middle, to make it half as deep.
• Take that end, and spread a little bit of fabric glue along one side of the folded ribbon – spread it about an inch down the ribbon.
• Begin rolling the ribbon in, towards the glue to form a pinwheel or nautilus shape.
• When you have a little circle, get out your needle and thread. (The fabric should wrap around 3-4 times, however big you want it)
• Put 2-3 stitches through the middle of the circle to hold it together.  (The glue won’t hold the ribbon together yet, that’s why we use the needle and thread.  To help it stay together.)
• Place a little fabric glue on the bottom of the circle, and place the circle it wear you want on your shirt. (DO NOT CUT THE END OF THE RIBBON.  Leave it hanging for know.)
• Add a few stitches by hand to secure the circle in place.  You can go through the circle and into the shirt, or just stitch the edges in a few spots.  Just keep your stitches small and close to the ribbon.
• Take the ribbon, and figure out how you want it to look.
• To get the look like mine, hold the ribbon taut on the shirt for about an inch, and then place one stitch.  Then, make a little loop so that the ribbon sticks up just a bit, and place a stitch on the other side.  Continue for as far down as you’d like it to go.
• When it’s long enough, cut the ribbon on a diagonal.

***To make sure the fabric glue works, make sure to read the instructions about washing, and try to follow those.  I think I waited about a week before washing, and mine worked perfectly.

Enjoy!