Geekphoria: DIY: Cross-Strap Tank Tunic

Like any geek, I love a good mash-up tee. Unlike most geeks, I can't stand t-shirts. So that has been what most of the summer has been about--taking awesome geeky shirts and turning them into shirts that I can wear without feeling weird and uncomfortable.

This week I started with a shirt I got off of TeeFury.com. It's a Harry Potter/Legend of Zelda mash-up. Which, translated into English, means it's AWESOME.

Is it Navi? Is it a snitch? What's going on? WHO WILL BE VICTORIOUS??

As you can see, per usual, I began with a man's t-shirt--a size XL, to be exact. However, where I usually begin by cutting off the collar and sleeves, I went a different way this time--I cut off the entire side of the shirt and created a new side seam.

As you can see, I was used my cutting mat to guide my cutter and carboard as a cutting mat...

So, once the sides were cut off I pinned them together, and sewed hems all the way from the bottom hem to about three inches from the top of the shirt.

Pinned, and ready to hem!

The reason I didn't go all the way to the top was the next step--I planned to cut all of that off. Basically, I cut it so the shirt was a rectangle. Or tube-top shaped. Whichever you prefer.

Once it was cut, I did a simple hem around the top, about 1/4 of an inch.

I then connected the straps, crossing them in the back. I put on the shirt so that I could figure out exactly where I wanted the straps (after sewing them on the first time in a position about two inches to the right of where I wanted them...but you can skip that step). I just pinned the lace straps, and then used a zig-zag stitch to secure them.

Leggin's.

Doesn't that look cute?

The answer is yes. Yes, it looks really cute. But, therein lies the problem, something I will dub Amanda's Law. The cuter an article of clothing looks, the shorter the length of time you can wear it before it becomes extremely uncomfortable. Those lace straps were scratchy and uncomfortable, and I only wore the shirt for six minutes before taking it off.

So this morning I went to Jo-Ann's and bought some new, stretchy straps to replace the adorable lace straps. I sewed them on in the exact same spot, and here's the new look:

In case you're wondering why the door's suddenly so nice, I'm at my parents' house.

Now, doesn't that look more comfortable? And there's a bit of a sheen to it, so it's still cute.

You can see the connection of the straps nicely here.

I've had this blog entry ready for a few days, but I wanted to fix the straps before I posted it. Beauty may be a pain, but that doesn't mean I have to endure it!

I'm writing another entry for Friday--another list. This time, it's on characters that everyone seems to love, but I can't stand. Two of the entries are from Harry Potter, which bugs me. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me out, and bring some balance to this HP-anchored hate fest? Let me know in comments!