hol(e)y shi(r)t.

Here's an easy little sewing project that might surprise you with some interesting results. It started for me as a total experiment but I do kind of love how it turned out. The technique is reverse applique and here's how I make it:

1. got a pink tank top on sale at the Gap

2. found some lace scraps

3. turned shirt inside out

4. drew some circles along the inside seam

5. pinned lace circles a bit larger over the drawn circles

6. with a sewing machine, sewed over the lace around each circle, sometimes going around twice

7. for each circle, pulled the bottom thread through, so that both thread ends were on the inside of shirt, and then knotted them together

Here's what it looked like so far:

I was totally not satisfied with the color... pink... so I decided to dye it... black...

So I:

8. got some RIT black dye

9. in a medium size bin, mixed the full bottle of RIT with 1 cup of kosher salt and some water

10. saturated the shirt with water

11. submerged the shirt into the dye bath

12. let it soak in the bath for about 6 hours

13. rinsed it in cold water

14. threw it in the washing machine, alone

15. and let it hang dry.

Time for revealing the lace!

16. Carefully cut around the inside of each circle, only cutting the tank material, not the lace.

I left some circles without lace underneath so that all you see is straight up flesh when it's on... scandalous... not really, just wanted that contrast!

17. Done. Wear it.

Looks pretty cool, different, maybe a little odd. I like it.