DIY 10 Minute Upcycled Maternity Tank

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I haven't really had much time to experiment with making my own maternity T's in the past.  I was challenged to make my t-shirt look great for a charity walk that I was doing since the smaller shirt did not fit and the bigger shirt looked horrible.  I had a short amount of time and decided to whip up a tank since it was going to be a hot day.

Materials

Shirt 1-2 sizes larger then your normal size
1 yard Elastic {1/4 inch}

Make a line with a straight edge using your chalk pen from under the collar to the top of the sleeve line.  Now cut across and remove the arm holes along the seam.

Pin your arm holes and sew them under with a nice seam.  

Now fold the top edge under so that you have a 1/2 inch of the material and pin.

Line your pressure foot up with the edge of your fold and sew.  You will need to do this for both the front and the back. 

Now you are ready to do the ruched sides.  Flip the shirt inside-out. You may want to make your sewing line with a chalk pen. I had the line end 2 inches back towards the butt and not straight down so that there was extra belly room.  

Take one piece of elastic and sew it with a few stiches across to keep the elastic in place.  You are going to hold the elastic and pull it slightly as you sew, so you will need it anchored. 

Switch to a zig zag stitch that is the same width as your elastic.  Now pull your elastic as your do your stitch.  The tighter you pull, the more ruched your sides will be so only pull slightly.  Stop before the bottom edge fold.  Cut off the extra elastic and do the other side.

Now to finish your top you can either cut 2 inches off of the bottom (you will want to discard the bottom edge).  You will want to only make one cut so you have one continuous piece. I really wanted to keep the finished edge, so I used a piece of another shirt.  You could also use a ribbon or if you have extra time, you can sew folded over so you have nice even edges. 

You will need to pull your fabric ribbon through both top edges.   Now you can tie a bow on one shoulder.

Now it is ready to wear!

I am hidden slightly by Baby Bear

PS. if you are curious, we were walking for The Friendship Circle as part of the Birdhouse for Autism group.  Birdhouse is my blogger friend Dani's company.