Dance Team Camp Tank Tops with Bows (a.k.a. T-Shirt Up-Cycle)

Hi Guys! Just sneaking in a quick dance team post before I start sharing my Christmas bazaar projects for my first bazaar.  My oldest daughter's team got lots of new teammates this year, so in the spirit of team bonding, and the practicality of needing inexpensive matching team shirts for dance camp I headed to my usual go to spot...JoAnn's.  They had their t-shirts on sale for 3/$9.  We picked up 2 shirts in two colors for each of the girls (with the captains getting darker shades of each color), some sparkly spandex fabrics (1 yard of each) and some iron-on vinyl to use with my Cricut. 

Now, there are lots of, and I mean LOTS, of t-shirt to tank top videos online so I won't bore you with another tutorial.  But, to put it really simply: cut off the sleeves curving inward to the neckline from the seam line about 2 1/2" and cut off the neck band curving slightly deeper at the center (about 1 1/2"), then simply cut the back inward on each side to form the racer back.  If you cut one side at a time, you can flip the piece and use it for a pattern on the other side.





For the bow, I cut my yard of fabric in half after matching the selvedge edges. Then cut 5" wide strips, which left me with a little extra piece for tying off the bows (14 strips total).  The bows are made to be removable, so I didn't sew or finish the edges. Just fold the strips in half lengthwise, and fold over as seen in the pictures. 




Scrunch in the center, wrap with an extra strip of fabric and lay a piece of the sleeve hem you cut from the shirt to make the tie that will wrap around the back of the newly cut tank top.

Sorry so blurry...

Lastly, take your finished bow and tie it around the racer back of your tank top, pulling the sides a bit to stretch the fabric. Cute, right?!

Here are the blue tanks (in school colors), with the very catchy phrase my daughter came up with...Ring Belles! I'll be sure to add a photo of all the girls in their cute shirts this week...Super fun team activity, and just a little over $125 (each girl pitched in $10).