…or how a stupid mistake led to new life for an old tank top!

It started out like any other normal laundry day. I was hanging up my “do not dry’s” on the drying rack when I came across this cute little aqua tank from Old Navy. I shook it out and tugged on the hem a little to help straighten out any wrinkles… RIIIIIPP!

I couldn’t believe I had ripped my shirt; I was so angry with myself. I really liked this tank, so I wanted to try to fix it instead of just getting rid of it.

My solution hit me when I saw this adorable orange, navy, and green southwestern print ribbon at Hobby Lobby– peek-a-boo ribbon trim!

I decided to keep the distressed look of the ripped fabric and sew the ribbon on the inside so that you just get a peek of color and print.

I carefully lined up the ribbon on the inside of the shirt with the tear. I wanted the tear to look natural and not like I had just cut a big hole in my shirt, so I let it lay the way it naturally wanted to- with a bigger part of the ribbon showing in the middle and gradually closing out to the sides.

I carefully pinned (that ribbon was a slippery bugger!), and sewed a zig zag stitch to help prevent future unraveling of the aqua fabric. If you don’t have a sewing machine, try using a fabric glue (such as this Fabric Fusion), it should work for you. I wouldn’t use hot glue for this project simply because the weight of the glue would be too heavy for the lightweight flowy fabric of the tank. I’d be more willing to try using the hot glue gun if you were trying this project on something heavier, like denim. (How cute would that be?!)

Done! Because my tank is sheer enough, I like that you could still slightly see the ribbon underneath, so I sewed the ribbon all the way to the side seams. The entire project took me about 30 minutes, and just like that I had a new personalized top to wear. Maybe my laundry accident wasn’t so bad after all!

Would you try this technique? If you do, please let me know; I’d love to see how it turned out for you!

tank: Old Navy (similar) // ribbon: Hobby Lobby // bronze booties: Sam & Libby for Target- sold out (similar) // jeans: New York & Company // necklace: Hobby Lobby (similar) // earrings: old (similar)