Resized T-shirt Apocalypse Top

My partner gave me a bunch of his old XL t-shirts, which I'm gradually converting into me-sized tank tops. This project will work for both over- and under-sized old t-shirts, and the apocalypse vibe is a great opportunity to put zero effort into your hand sewing skills. It's also a really customisable project - next time I think I'll skip the choker neckline, bleach in an anarchy sign, and dye it rainbow.

• an old t-shirt, either too big, too small, or too boring to wear as is
• embroidery thread or yarn - I used some leftover sock yarn (use superwash, unless if you want to handwash your clothes forever!)
• sewing needle
• Waxed cotton cord or ribbon
• fabric and embroidery scissors
• bleach
• hydrogen peroxide (optional)
• sponge brush (optional)
• a tank top to copy the pattern from
• tailor's chalk

I wanted diffuse bleach lines on my top, so I soaked it in water for half an hour first. You can skip this stage if you don't want the bleach to spread.

First, prepare your hydrogen peroxide solution, if you're using it. It stops the bleach from continuing to break down the fabric. If you don't have or want to buy hydrogen peroxide, there are other ways to neutralise bleach, or you can just rinse the fabric very thoroughly, as soon as you're happy with it.

The fun bit: splodge bleach randomly over your t-shirt. I mainly used it straight from the bottle, but I also daubed a bit on using a sponge brush. If you want a proper pattern, you can use tie dye techniques here instead. If you want to burn holes in the fabric using the bleach (I didn't do this), add the bleach onto those bits first.

Once you like the look of it, neutralise your t-shirt in the hydrogen peroxide solution. I then put it through the washing machine and hung it out to dry.

Lay out your t-shirt on a flat surface. Then put your tank top over it, and draw a solid chalk line over the front neckline and arm holes, and a dotted line over the sides of the oversized t-shirt (skip the sides if your t-shirt is undersized). Put your tank top aside, and draw a solid line about 3cm in from the dotted side lines. This will give you a nicely sized gap for the lacing.

Cut through both layers of your t-shirt along the two solid side lines, or if your top is smaller just cut off the side seams. You should have a flap each for the front and back, and a still-connected neckline and sleeves. Flip the t-shirt over, and draw in your armholes and back neckline. Then, cutting through a single layer rather than both sides at once, cut out all solid lines. You should have a tank top front and back, connected only at the top shoulder seamlines. I also cut off the bottom hemline.

I also folded my back piece in half vertically, and snipped out a sort of spinal column at this point, and created some lengths of noodly yarn with the offcuts from the sides.

Take a length of embroidery thread or yarn, and whipstitch all around each edge of your top (sides, armholes, neckline, the lot). Pull the thread fairly taut, so it rolls the hem in a little.

Create the eyelets down the four side pieces of your top. I ripped a small hole using the sewing needle, then worked buttonhole stitch around the edges (buttonhole stitch is exactly the same as blanket stitch, just worked closely together). I found it was quicker to work over my first yarn tail, so I only had one end to weave in. I worked fifteen eyelets down each side. I didn't space them particularly evenly, but it doesn't seem to have affected the fit.

If you'd like a neater finish, other options would be: sew a length of woven ribbon or interfacing down the inside of each side, and inserting metal eyelets. Or, for neater but still sewn-looking eyelets, you could work your stitching over a metal grommet.

Take two lengths of cord or ribbon (I used around 2m each) and loosely lace the sides of your top together. Try the top on, and adjust the lacing to fit. You can just finish the top here, or continue on with the choker neckline.

Cut a length of offcut hemline to fit round your neck (for a looser fit, you can just use the discarded original neckline), and whipstitch all around it I also attached six doubled up lengths of noodle yarn onto the front third of one long edge as I went along.. Create a closure with a knotted piece of noodle yarn attached to one end of the choker, and a couple of loops of the noodle yarn attached to the other. Check for fit and adjust if needed.

Wearing both top and choker, go and stand in front of a mirror. Working from the centre neckline outwards, tear twelve evenly spaced holes using your sewing needle. Then interweave your twelve noodly lengths however best pleases you (I just did a simple over-under weave). Once you're happy, start threading your noodles through the corresponding holes, working from the centre neckline outwards. I recommend putting them all through the holes, checking position, and then moving on to knotting. I double knotted each noodle, then threaded the tail end through the hole again and trimmed.