How to dress like Gwynnie; or, DIY Kain t-shirt

Me and Gwyneth, twinsies.

When I saw the t-shirt Gwyneth Paltrow collaborated on with Kain, I thought it was so cute to have a slightly formal update on the basic white T. But I don't spend $90 on my formal clothes, let alone my play clothes! I went to Uniqlo on my lunch break and got a cotton/modal blend t-shirt for $9, and I had some extra black grograin ribbon left over from another project. This DIY is super easy to do and then you can finally have an excuse to go to a garden and make your boyfriend take pictures of you while you pose like a rich, skinny white woman!

SUPPLIES:

• White t-shirt
• 2 yards of black ribbon
• Sewing stuff: pins, needle, black thread; or your sewing machine.

  


Step 1: Pin that sucka!

Take your ribbon and pin it to the seams, cutting it with 1" extra over the bottom seam and 1/2" extra over the armpit seam. Just pin it to the side seams, stopping at the armpit. Pin heavy, because it's hard to sew on seams!

Step 2: Pin it real good!

Turn the bottom seam over and pin the 1" extra to the inside so you can sew it down.

Step 3: Baste doesn't make waste.

After you pin it, you can start hand sewing. But if you're going to sew it with the machine, it's going to be easier to run through if you baste first.

Bastin' it and bastin' it and bastin' it well.

For the end of the ribbon in the armpit, I doubled it over and basted it down, so that when I sew it, the cut end of the ribbon will be hemmed in.

Step 4: Lock and load, i.e. sew it with the machine.

This step can be done by hand, but if you have a machine, just go for it! Try to get the needle to go in at the edge of the ribbon. If you're using grosgrain, there's a tiny little edge formed in the ribbon and you can aim for that when you're sewing. Don't forget to switch to black thread!

Step 5: Do the shoulder seams and continue the ribbon down the sleeve.

I forgot to take pictures of this step, but it's basically the same as the other step.

Step 6: Jump for joy!

You're done! Time to perfect the jump photo. A constant chanting of "1, 2, 3, up, down!" is what worked for us.

Look at me, all grainy. Life is more than 256 colors, computer!