Ladies ... how do you make a men's t-shirt into a corset?

BlackRoseMetalHeart

BlackRoseMetalHeart

Metal Mistress
Feb 4, 2006
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I know I've seen girls wearing these at PP and other metal shows, but I'm trying to find a pattern for a way to convert a regular adult (not baby doll) concert t-shirt into a corset that laces up the back or even the sides. (I'm also looking for good ways to alter the sleeves or the top of the shirt, if possible, to make them look a little more feminine.)

I found a great web page awhile back that had the instructions complete with step by step photos and a sewing pattern, but alas the mighty Google has not been my friend today in helping me relocate it.

ProgMuse (Denae), I believe you were wearing something like this last year and I thought you said you had made/modified it yourself.

I have so many great band t-shirts that I've bought from bands (or festivals) I loved when girls shirts were not available. I would like to trim/cinch them down to be more my size, but I want to find a good place to start before I ruin great shirts I can't replace. (Of course, anything I decide to try is getting a trial run with a Fruit of the Loom undershirt or GoodWill grab bag pick.)

Please and Thank You! All the help or advice you can give is greatly appriciated! (Oh and I know in the thread title I asked for the ladies' help, but I'm non-discriminatory. Any men with a knack for sewing, please feel welcome to chime in.)
 
Before doing this, be sure to ask your man if he is indeed interested in wearing a corset. Otherwise, your efforts will be in vain. :)
 
What I did was go to Goodwill and find a tank-top shirt that fit similar to how I wanted my final product to look with regard to snugness etc, took it home, took it apart and used it as a pattern.
Maybe grab a similar-sized men's shirt while you're at it and practice before you start chopping up concert tees. ;-)
Another thing you can do is to actually buy a nice black (assuming the final product will be black) top, remove the front panel and just replace it with the design you want from the concert tee.
You can buy rows of black gromits with sturdy backing at most fabric and craft stores; you'll need
them or else your shirt eventually will tear when you lace it.
Make sure to take out about an inch of material up the back (or on the sides, depending where you want it to cinch shut) so that you can actually lace the thing together and have it look like a corset as opposed to a shirt with laces up the back. ;-)
As far as sleeves, those are tricky.
My shirt didn't end up having sleeves; it had straps.
You'll have to cut up through the bottom of the sleeve and then hem in the cuffs.
Make sure that the shirt has a design that will stay centered and won't get cut off.
You're a tiny little thing and you don't want to end up with the design being cut off on the sides of the shirt after you take it in.
I assume you'll be using a sewing machine; as always, remember to leave enough excess material so that it fits after you stitch it together, stitch the shirt inside out and serge the edges so that it doesn't unravel.
Grab yourself some black Victorian lace and some nice silk ribbon and you're good to go.
Good luck! :kickass:
 
booB said:
Before doing this, be sure to ask your man if he is indeed interested in wearing a corset. Otherwise, your efforts will be in vain. :)
Click to expand...
Tehe! Yeah, Nick was saying how he wanted something that would show of his back and his cleavage a little bit mo ... oh, oh wait that's me I'm thinking of. :lol:
Prog_Muse said:
What I did was go to Goodwill and find a tank-top shirt that fit similar to how I wanted my final product to look with regard to snugness etc, took it home, took it apart and used it as a pattern.
Maybe grab a similar-sized men's shirt while you're at it and practice before you start chopping up concert tees. ;-)
Click to expand...
Definitely going to practice on another (less important) shirt first. Good idea for where to get the pattern(s) from!
Prog_Muse said:
Another thing you can do is to actually buy a nice black (assuming the final product will be black) top, remove the front panel and just replace it with the design you want from the concert tee.
Click to expand...
Thought about this, and it's a good simple idea, but I'd like to do something more than just reattach the image to a smaller shirt (although this is a good fail-safe option it seems).
Prog_Muse said:
You can buy rows of black gromits with sturdy backing at most fabric and craft stores; you'll need them or else your shirt eventually will tear when you lace it.
Click to expand...
Check. Picked these up the other night at Jo-Anne's along with some cool colored laces to match a few of the shirts.
Prog_Muse said:
Make sure to take out about an inch of material up the back (or on the sides, depending where you want it to cinch shut) so that you can actually lace the thing together and have it look like a corset as opposed to a shirt with laces up the back. ;-)
Click to expand...
I think a lot of my shirts are going to have to be done on the sides, since most of the men's shirts I have bought have both front and back designs (PP VIII, FotV II, Warlock, Iron Maiden, Primal Fear, Heaven & Hell, etc.). I'm trying to devise a way to work around this.
Prog_Muse said:
As far as sleeves, those are tricky.
My shirt didn't end up having sleeves; it had straps.
You'll have to cut up through the bottom of the sleeve and then hem in the cuffs.
Click to expand...
I really like this idea and we were having so much trouble figuring out how to do something like this the other night. Thanks!
Prog_Muse said:
Make sure that the shirt has a design that will stay centered and won't get cut off.
You're a tiny little thing and you don't want to end up with the design being cut off on the sides of the shirt after you take it in.
Click to expand...
As I said, this is where most of my trouble comes in since I want to show off both the back and front designs. The ideas that you have given me will certainly be helpful though. I already have a few of my own about how I might be able to adjust a few things to maximize the space I have for the designs on the front and the back. Of course some of them, I just might suffer through loosing an inch or so of the design.
Prog_Muse said:
I assume you'll be using a sewing machine; as always, remember to leave enough excess material so that it fits after you stitch it together, stitch the shirt inside out and serge the edges so that it doesn't unravel.
Click to expand...
Check. I don't have one personally (yet), but my best friend's mother work for Viking (the sewing machine company), so they have like 6 or 7 machines at their house.

If anyone has or finds any more good ideas for this project please post them! :headbang: Thanks again!
 
That sounds really complicated... Will you post a photograph of your result? I've become curious now...

And just because I'm curious... will you alter a t-shirt into something that looks a bit more girlish and has lacings, or will you really put in heavy-duty steel bonings?
 
_eva_ said:
That sounds really complicated... Will you post a photograph of your result? I've become curious now...

And just because I'm curious... will you alter a t-shirt into something that looks a bit more girlish and has lacings, or will you really put in heavy-duty steel bonings?
Click to expand...

My seamstress friend and I are currently looking into a way to do something with boning. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Danaë, do you have any photos of the top you made?

I'll certainly post photos of what we do. Although it may be sometime, since after I return from PP (unfortunately we won't have time to before this year's) my sewing friend is moving early Nov. so we have to wait until she's in her new place to really get started on this project.
 
Bobbi,
I don't have that shirt with me at the moment.
Due to a butterfly flapping its wings somewhere halfway around the world, I am now relocated to Florida but my belongings have not entirely followed suit.
In other words, as soon as I get my stuff moved across the country I will have the shirt back.
Until then, I can try to dig up a pic of me wearing it...which I might have...somewhere...
 
BlackRoseMetalHeart: Good luck with it! I can hardly sew a button back on my clothes, but I'd love to learn it ... one day... and I always love looking at other people's creations.
 
I'd also love to see a pic of the shirt. Both the one that P_M did and the one you will do Bobbie.

I'm pretty creative and crafty, but I can't imagine getting something like what you gals have/are undertaking done. I'd just as soon not bother with the mess I know would follow and pay you great ladies to make it for me! :p
 
Ooooooh, keep me in the loop on this ladies! I cannot tell you how many concert tees are relegated to being nightgowns because they are way too big on me!

Where's metalseamstress? We need her to do this for us! Pack the sewing machine girl!
 
Bryan316 said:
Make a wickedawesome t-shirt corset by getting a grommet kit from, say, Michaels or Jo-Ann, cut up the shirt, make it about 2 inches too small to wrap around, sew up the sides, add the grommets, and lace the sides with leather shoelaces like a biker's vest.

HAWT.
Click to expand...

Both my PP shirts are too large and I never wear them so I may just do this at some point but I don't have time before Thursday as I suck at sewing so would need to do a few trial runs first.
 
BABS said:
Ooooooh, keep me in the loop on this ladies! I cannot tell you how many concert tees are relegated to being nightgowns because they are way too big on me!

Where's metalseamstress? We need her to do this for us! Pack the sewing machine girl!
Click to expand...
Yes, you are not alone in that frustration.

There's a forum member named metalseamstress. That rocks! :headbang: I have to meet this lady!
Bryan316 said:
Make a wickedawesome t-shirt corset by getting a grommet kit from, say, Michaels or Jo-Ann, cut up the shirt, make it about 2 inches too small to wrap around, sew up the sides, add the grommets, and lace the sides with leather shoelaces like a biker's vest.

HAWT.
Click to expand...
This much I have pretty well figured out. And it seems to be the only way to do the shirts with large designs on the back. (Sigh ... my PP VIII tee) My problem area is figuring out what to do about the top portion/sleeves of the shirt, without making it look like I've taken a potato sack the wrong way over my head and cinched it around my waist. (Big sleeves with a tight waist.)
Jibrille said:
Both my PP shirts are too large and I never wear them so I may just do this at some point but I don't have time before Thursday as I suck at sewing so would need to do a few trial runs first.
Click to expand...
That's pretty much the boat I'm in. Although I'm getting better at sewing since I've been trying to do it more. I could probably do one shirt between now and PP if it wasn't for the fact that my patch pants also need a little work and are a higher priority for me. I've got probably three patches to mend and three to add. Not to mention that the supplies for those - needle, thread, pants, patches, quilting ruler (or CD case, to ensure you don't sew your pant legs together :p) - are all things that are small and easily transportable, as opposed to what I would need for the shirt/corset project (like a sewing machine :lol: - would not want to lug that to Atlanta).
 
Bryan316 said:
Make a wickedawesome t-shirt corset by getting a grommet kit from, say, Michaels or Jo-Ann, cut up the shirt, make it about 2 inches too small to wrap around, sew up the sides, add the grommets, and lace the sides with leather shoelaces like a biker's vest.
Click to expand...

Is anyone besides me afraid that Bryan is going to show up at ProgPower in a corset? :err:
 
Oh, I wish I had seen this before I went to PP! I bought a book called 101 Things to do with a Tee-shirt- (which inspired A LOT of my clothing this year. I saw a pattern I liked and ran with it as much as I could- like my hooded teeshirt with stitching and pocket).

FYI, unless you add the boning yourself the corset will NOT be a true corset and will not hold any flesh in place and will most likely stretch. The corset tee shirt is more a decoration.

Some cool ideas here:

http://www.generation-t.com/


You can also use an old tee-shirt and duct tape and make your own corset pattern with those. I can explain how in another post.

Event though this is late- at least you've got plenty of time to work on one for next year. And as always, I suggest going to goodwill/salvation army and play with some cheap old tee's before you work on a concert shirt you love.

HOpe this helps!

-Metal

MetalSeamstress in Training
 
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