Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Tumultuous Torn T-Shirts

I love creating new things from old things that no longer serve their purpose. Marquette and I were just talking about that Saturday when we had a Pinstrositeers Day (it had been WAY too long). You all will get to see our creations from the weekend in Thursday's post!
I am super excited to show y'all what we made!
 
Well Nikki tried just that, making something new and fabulous out of something old and icky. Hers didn't end well however, check it out!
 
The Original
 
Unfortunately, the website is in German. I don't speak German (although I wish I did, anyone want to online tutor an awkward Irish lady?!). I tried Google translate but there are always going to be some language inconsistencies, the instructions were pretty close to exactly what the picture shows though. I should also add that the original blog had a few variations on this shirt and Nikki's is kind of a combination of them.  Here is Nikki's version!
 
The Pinstrosity
So what happened here?
 
I think the main problem here is that her first cuts weren't long enough, that would be step number 3 on the tutorial picture. Other than that I think it looks a little off center but not so much that I wouldn't wear it. If she were to try this again and correct those two problems I think she would end up with something much closer to the original picture, and hopefully something she would be happy with. With that being said I think this is cute, it's a little detail and she could even wear this without an undershirt because it's not too revealing and I think it would look cool and cute for a fun summer shirt! But that is just my personal opinion.
 
Anyone have any extra tips for Nikki?!
Let us know below!
Happy Wednesday Pinstrosipeeps!
I'm off to work on a special post we have for tomorrow! It's a joint post! I don't think we have done that before so stay tuned!!
 


16 comments:

  1. My recommendation - Nikki wear this with pride! You did a great job at upcycling. When someone asks where you got it you can proudly say it is an original creation!

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    Replies
    1. It didn't go exactly as planned, but thanks! That's very nice of you!

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  2. I, too, think she put a great original twist on it! And twist on the first loop looks to be the only thing she missed. Great with or without!

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  3. It also looks like the original pin showed the creator twisting each loop as she pulled through-- something Nikki may not have done, resulting in the wider pattern? :)

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  4. It looks to me like Nikki may have just looped the straps over the preceding one. in the picture it looks like each strap is given a half twist, which makes the nice chain down the middle. Other than that...totally redeemable!

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  5. Maybe she didn't twist the loops first before inserting another loop as shown in the pictures?

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  6. I think it looks fine. It could go a little deeper, and with and under shirt for this one for sure. I think it looks off center because of the way she is standing.

    If she did this again I would reccomend a brighter color. And to go down a little further with the cuts.

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  7. It looks to me like the original pin has a "twist" at each layer to keep the loops central. I stll think it looks cute, though!

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  8. Perhaps a quick stitch or two to tack down the twists would help keep the twists in the center might help the shirt end up closer to the original. Either way, it's cute! Wear your creation with pride, Nikki! I've been trying to decide what kind of t-shirt tearing/cutting/tying I want to try on a few old shirts for the summer. Might give this one a try!

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  9. The original pin has 12 cuts and hers only has 10. Hers cuts are spaced closer together and shorter across the back and don't go as far down the back. I think the pin's neckline was cut wider at the top also plus, as everybody said, she missed twisting the strips as she went down.

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  10. Hi,

    I will try to help an Irish lady with a more or less translation although the pictures are quite selfexplanatory. It seems you forgot the loops ... but please read the next lines ;).

    I am German and will tell you in short steps what to do:

    1. Cut off the seams as shown
    2. Fold the shirt in half lengthwise (best: iron to make it more stable)
    3. Cut about 12 strips of about 2 cm width (longer on top and shorter downwards)
    I think you have done everything right until here.

    Then follows a general information, but number
    6. is important where you might have done something wrong:
    Make a loop and twist it against the clock!
    7. Pull the loop down and pull the next strip through it.
    8. Same thing again. Make a loop into the second strip, twist it and pull the 3. strip through it. And so on until all strips are pulled through.

    DO NOT FORGET: Each loop must be twisted against the clock before pulling the next strip through! It is like crochet.

    Last loop: Either stitch it to the shirt or cut it in the middle and make a knot with the previous loop.

    I hope my English description is understandable and clear enough and will help to avoid another pinstrosity :).

    Good luck! And greetings from Germany to everybody!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Tina, thanks for translating for us! You did an excellent job.

      For anyone else who didn't quite understand it, "against the clock" is our "counter clockwise".

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    2. Perfect explanation!

      To hopefully explain *why* the twist is necessary: in the inspiration pin, see how the counterclockwise twist shows the right-hand part of the fabric strip is crossed on top of the left-hand part of the strip? After the next strip is pulled through that loop, that twist is "locked" into place; the only way it could untwist is if the next strip wasnt attached to the fabric (so it could spin around).

      The twisted loops are chained together down the back. Wearing the shirt, the main tension will be horizontal stretching, right? With the twist added, that means the horizontal stretching will pull the loop *tighter* instead of looser! Compare the finished pin to the finished submission and see what I mean.

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  11. Hi everyone,

    I see what happened, but it is hard to describe. When she started the looping the strips over each other, she held onto the first strip (closest to the neck) then double wrapped the next strip over the first, then double-wrapped third strip over the first, and so on, so the first strip is pulled all the way down the back, which is pulling that first strip very taut and creating the wide V look.

    Instead, like Tina wrote, take the first strip, twist it to make the loop, pull the second strip through, then *release the first strip*

    Hope that helps.

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  12. I think she didn't twist and just pulled the strips through. Without the twist, you basically get an oversized knit stitch. With the twist, it will hold in the center better. I also think you should look at the original pin to figure out exactly how close to the shoulders and exactly how far down the cutting goes. It also might be wise to count the number of strips.

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    ReplyDelete

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