How to Make a Zara-Inspired DIY Ruched Top Out of an Old T-Shirt
Today I’m going to show you how to make a Zara-inspired gathered t-shirt without a sewing machine. This gathered top is pretty adjustable; you can crop it and gather it to your liking. Grab an old t-shirt, and let’s get creative!
Tools and materials:
- Fabric glue
- Scissors
- Marker
- T-shirt
- Safety pin
1. Crop your top
Let’s start by cropping the top. Grab a pencil and mark the length you want.
Now cut and keep the excess fabric as you’ll need this for the drawstrings. You’ll see that you have a raw hem. If you want a cleaner finish, turn it right sides in, fold the edges, and stick with fabric glue. I left mine as is.
2. Cut strips
Take your excess band and cut it at the seams. You should have two equally sized pieces.
Next, remove the hem from each piece so that you have two seamless pieces.
Then, cut six equal pieces from the pieces. From this, save four for later and just work with two strips.
Cut the two strips in half to get four equal pieces.
3. Make the tunnels
We’re going to focus on the side seams of the t-shirt. Turn your top right sides in and place each strap on either side of the seam.
Take your fabric glue and place glue along the sides of each strip. Remember that you’re creating a tunnel and that the drawstrings need to feed through these tunnels. So, Don’t glue the whole piece down.
A more straightforward technique is to place the fabric glue on the t-shirt itself and then place the strips accordingly.
Repeat the process on the other side.
Next, leave to dry.
4. Make the drawstrings
While your t-shirt is drying, take the remaining four strips and stretch each piece until you get long strings.
5. Assemble the gathered t-shirt
Place a safety pin on one end of the string and feed it through each opening.
Pull your string until the end reaches the top opening. Then, glue the string’s end down on top.
Repeat the process on the other tunnels, placing one string through each tunnel.
Your top should look something like this!
DIY ruched top
Let’s try it! I never knew fabric glue could work so well! What do you think of this Zara-inspired no-sew gathered t-shirt? Anyone can do this lovely transformation; you just need some handy fabric glue to do the trick. Thanks for joining me, and good luck!
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