Diy Cross Back Shirt

f necessary, remove your collar. This shirt had a really pretty, structured collar and I cut it off, right along the seam, and saved it for another project.
Next, fold your shirt in half lengthwise by the shoulder seams. Don't just fold it in half, otherwise you'll cut out your front side during the next step.
Cut a V shape from, with the point at the bottom and the V at your shoulders. You can get as close to your shoulders as you dare, depending on how much skin you want showing. My V was about 13 inches, it's a good idea to measure on your back to see where you want the lowest point to hit.
Open your shirt back up and this is what your back should look like.
Pin your hem all around. You have two options. For a more professional look, fold over once, pin and iron. Then fold a second time and pin. If you don't really mind short cuts, just fold once and pin. The former option hides the fray and makes it look really nice.
Here it is hemmed! At this point you should iron. I didn't iron the stinking shirt until the end of the project. Also, I put a small tack at the point of the V to keep it in place. If yours turns out to be too U-ish and it bugs you, you can fold it into a point and tack as well.
Next you'll work on the cross. There are a few different options here, you can use the fabric from your V cut out OR you can use ribbons, lace, contrasting material... whatever you want. If you use material as opposed to lace or ribbons, you'll need to create tubes.
The big problem here was the venting on the back of the shirt. I made the tubes kind of ugly, but I just made sure to put the ugly side facing in :) Start by cutting your fabric in half. Then fold each piece in half with the right sides facing inward and the wrong sides facing out and pin. Sew a straight line down and then flip the tubes right side out by pushing the fabric back through one of the two open ends. Iron them down so they're flat straps
Here's where I really messed up. Attaching the straps is going to be very personal. What I recommend is tacking them in place and trying the shirt on before you sew them down. I had to remove them 3 or 4 times because I was too confident that I would like the placement. The shorter the strips, the more closed and tight your back will be, this creates a cleaner line that won't shift around as much when you move. Also, think about where you want them to start- you can start them way down by the bottom of the V or higher up on the back like the original pin + my version. Using a mannequin would be easiest, unless you can get a friend to help you. Either way, with the shirt inside out, pin your straps in place, remembering that they should be on an angle like in the photos above. Use a temporary tack in addition to pins to hold the straps in place while you sew them down. You can also use a no-sew adhesive. Once the straps are permanently in place, cut off the extra tails and you're good to go!
Voila! I originally took pictures of it outside. They turned out really well- but the shirt was a wrinkled mess!! I couldn't handle it, and literally stopped writing this blog halfway through to iron and rephotograph it.