August 13, 2012
With the summer heat comes the need for our fashions to ventilate, and I can’t think of a more delightful way to cool off than to don the irreverently breezy cut-out t-shirt. I’ve cut many a t-shirt in my lifetime, the first few of which ending up in the bin for my lack of planning and restraint. I’ve learned my lessons, and this is my favorite way of cutting out t-shirts.
Find a t-shirt at least slightly loose on you (oversize works as well), I'm using an old classic American Apparel black t-shirt in Medium. Mark how deep you want the shoulders to go in, and in horizontal lines, mark how far in you want it to go on the sides. Uneven is good.
With a pair of scissors, cut into both of the horizontal lines you marked, and for allowance, try not to cut fully into the lines like I did.
For the vertical incision, use scissors to snip the thick portion of fabric at the shoulder seam, then go ahead and tear it all the way down until you meet the horizontal cut. This will make for a more raw, graceful cut. You may not meet the horizontal line exactly at the end; adjust accordingly with scissors.
And this is what it looks like, cut-out and laid out flat. In the spirit of modesty, I kept the relatively high neckline intact, but I could've cut it out right along the seam if I hadn't done the shoulders this high. Stretch out the raw cut parts before wearing; the sides will drape from corner to corner and I think it looks great like that.
DIY cut-out t-shirt, Undercover x Uniqlo pants, Common Projects shoes
the way it drapes on the sides
Common Projects Achilles sneakers in white suede