tutorial: tailoring tank straps

A couple of years ago I bought this shirt that didn't hang right (waaay too low, as you can see) and was a little on the long side, but I loved the back (and still do). So I finally got off my lazy butt and decided to fix it (before and after photos, respectively):

Not sure why my legs are open in that first picture, to be honest. Anyway, this is the cool-looking back, pre-modification:

hey look! a wild bra band appeared!

Now, because I'm a) broke, b) cheap, and c) broke, I shortened the straps myself (obviously) and I'm here to share some diy-tailoring tips for tank top straps that are too long! The shirt I used in these pictures has a lace back, but this method honestly works with any kind of tank top (I've used it on thin spaghetti-style straps and tubular straps as well).

1. Put the shirt on and fold the fabric so that the straps are the length you want them to be. Use safety pins or whatever's handy (I used bobby pins) to secure them at the desired length:

2. Take the shirt off without moving the pins--even if you're not using safety pins, this can be done, with LOTS OF CARE AND PATIENCE. Hang it on a hanger to make sure the straps are even with each other. If they're not, fix them!

Alternatively, stick a needle through the fold and hope you don't poke yourself, or crease the fabric very hard and you should still be able to see the line you made after taking the shirt off. The last option is to eyeball it (I've done this, but only after becoming very familiar with my own measurements and the length I usually have to tailor my straps to).

3. Turn the shirt inside-out and pick a strap to start with. Remove the pins on that side only, being careful to keep the fold in place.

Starting from the inside part of the shirt and sewing to the outside, sew the bottom part of the folded fabric (both sides!) so that you're left with a loop:

You're going to want to sew with the original sewing of the shirt so it ends up pretty much invisible on the outside. As you can see, my shirt has vertical grooves and stitching so I sewed it vertically, like so:

see? invisible except for that tiny dent (sorry; this was the first strap i sewed. i only took pictures of my first attempt)

4. Cut the bottom of the loop near where you just sewed, as close as you can possibly get without destroying what you just painstakingly stitched. DO NOT CUT THE ENTIRE LOOP! Only cut the BOTTOM layer of the loop, so it ends up like this:

Now cut off the fabric, but leave about 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch or so of fabric so you can fold it over and hide your cut ends and make the shirt straps look neater:

5. Take the excess fabric that you left and fold it inwards so it connects to the place where you cut the first layer of the loop. start sewing the top part of the fold! Once again, make sure you get both sides. the fold looks like this:

Yes, I shoved my needle through the area I was folding before I threaded the needle because I needed to save my spot for my first stitch. Once again, sew WITH the grain of your shirt, whatever it might be.

Your fold should look something like this from the side once both sides are properly sewed:

This is how my second strap turned out:

practice makes perfect improvement!

Once again, hang it on a hanger to make sure it hangs evenly!

BOOM, BABY. Straps that are perfectly tailored for your shoulders! Wear it with pride!

this is the back, post-modification. much better!

NOTES:

So the reason why I only photographed my sewing of the first strap is because I was keeping a record of what I did as I went, just in case it didn't work out, because I'd never shortened straps before and this way I'd know what not to do the next time around (if there were to be a next time).

The shirt looks perfectly fine--you can't tell I cut and folded and resewed the straps unless you come really close, in which case I'd think you were weird for checking my collarbones out, because while they are admittedly very sexy, my collarbones are better appreciated when there isn't cloth covering them (;