Ruffle Tank Top!

I made a quick little ruffle tank top for my little girl tonight. Took about a half an hour -- but if you're more experienced, it would probably take a LOT less.

Have you been to WalMart lately? They have super cheap tanks -- $2.50. Earlier this summer, I MAY have bought one ... of each color.

I've done a few things to several of them, but I still have a few left that are plain. With summer coming to a close soon (soon, right? Yes? Please?), I wanted to doll up the rest since they won't fit my little weed next year.

I started with this:

Just a plain tank with a piece of scrap fabric (7" long x 5" tall) and cut in in half longways. Then I used my sewing machine to sew a strip down the center of each piece like this:

Then, I gently pulled the bottom string to ruffle the material. Make sure you don't pull the thread all the way out from the other side or you'll have to redo this step. One, two or three frustrating times.

Sew each side down after ruffled to keep it in the shape you want:

Then I sewed each ruffled strip to the sleeves along the center ruffle strip and across the bottom hem.

And I finished with buttons! I've loved these buttons and am sad to see them go. I think the bag was $4.99 at HobLob, but I got them 50% off. So in total, the shirt cost about $5 if you had to buy all the items. But you could easily use any scrap material on had and any shirt. If you didn't want to use them across the sleeves of a tank, you could decorate the bottom of the shirt with longer strips or across the front of the shirt.

I think she'll like it! Quick and easy -- love those types of projects!