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[intro music]
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This video is supported by Clue.
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Hello! Welcome to a special half-episode of
Make Thrift Buy. So I mentioned in episode
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53 that I’d be doing a more customisable
sports bra: “And then, I will also do an
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episode 53.5 which will show you the harder,
but much more customisable way to do this”.
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Welp, this is that video! And that’s what
I’m going to be doing today!
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So, let’s jump right into it!
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So today I’m going to be turning this t-shirt
here into a sports-bra style crop top.
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First we need to start off by making a pattern.
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Now I used a tight-fitting singlet top to
base my pattern off – this singlet top here
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eventually became the rainbow crop top you
saw at the end of episode 53 – but before
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I cut it up, I made a pattern out of it!
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So with this singlet top and some butchers
paper, I folded the singlet top in half like
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this, so that the front was facing outwards.
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Then, I laid it flat down onto the paper,
with the fold matching up with the straight
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edge of the paper here, and I traced around
these edges. Because I wanted it to be cropped,
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I didn’t copy the bottom of the singlet
top, instead I drew a straight line across
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here, 14 inches below the top of the shoulder,
to make the pattern shorter.
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And I traced it out in pencil whiiiich you
can’t see on camera, so I’m just going
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to go over those lines in marker now.
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I then added a seam allowance of ½ an inch
around the armhole, top of the shoulder strap
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and the neckline. And I added a seam allowance
to the side of the pattern as well.
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And then, I drew this arrow here, on the straight
edge, because it will indicate where I will
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place the pattern on the fold of the fabric
later on.
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Then, I cut around the outside lines with
some scissors and that’s my front pattern
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piece done.
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I did the exact same thing for the back pattern
piece, so I folded the singlet the other way,
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so the BACK was facing out, laid it flat on
the paper, with the fold matching the straight
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edge of paper, and I traced around it like
this.
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I actually used the front pattern piece to
make sure that the straps were the same width
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on both the front and back pieces, and that
they were both the same length as well.
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Also, I added the same seam allowances as I did
on the front piece and then I cut it out.
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So now I have both the pattern pieces that
I need, the front and the back piece – and
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it’s time to get started cutting out fabric!
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So this thrifted t-shirt is what I’m going
to be using for my fabric. So first I cut
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the front and the back pieces apart by cutting
up the side seams, and around the arm holes.
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Starting on the front, because I want this
logo to be on the front of my sports bra,
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I folded it in half right-sides together like
this, making sure that the fabric was all
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flat underneath, and then I placed the pattern
piece on top, with this FOLD arrow pointing
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towards the FOLD of the fabric.
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Then, I cut around this.
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To cut it out, I just put a bunch of heavy
items on top of the paper and fabric to hold
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them down and I went around the edges with
my rotary cutter.
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So initially, I wanted to keep the original
neckline, as you can see me doing here – but
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in the end that got too complicated, so I
did cut it off.
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I then did the same for the back – folded
it in half, right sides together, placed the
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back pattern down on the fold, and cut it
out.
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So here’s my cut out front and back pieces.
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To sew them together, I placed the back piece
down facing right-sides up, and I put the
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front piece on top of it, right sides-down.
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And I sewed them together at the shoulders
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and the side seams.
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Now you want to use a thread in a matching
colour for this – this was the closest colour
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thread that I had on hand, but this one here,
if it hadn't almost run out – would have
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been better.
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So, I sewed the shoulders and side seams together
using a standard zig zag stitch, like this.
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Next, I’m applying elastic to the top’s
armholes and the neck hole.
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So with the top inside out, I roughly measured
out how much elastic I would need to go around
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the armhole, so I wouldn’t go drastically
over or under this amount and have a loose
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or a too-tight armhole, which I did by placing
the elastic at the bottom of the arm hole
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and then stretching it gently to the top,
then doubling this measurement.
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Then to apply the elastic, and I’m just
showing you the armhole application however
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it’s the same for the neckline as well,
I put the armhole underneath my sewing machine
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like this, then I put the elastic on top at
the edge of the fabric. I put the sewing machine’s
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foot down, did a little backstitch to keep
them in place. Then, I gently stretched the
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elastic, like this, and I slowly did a zig-zag
stitch right in the middle of the elastic,
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attaching the elastic along the fabric’s
edge.
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I continued gently stretching the elastic
as I went, all the way around the armhole,
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until I got back around to the start.
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When I got back to where I started, I clipped
the elastic off, and I sewed the two ends
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of the elastic together, on top of the armhole,
like this.
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To finish off the armhole, I folded it over
once like this – so this is kinnnda like
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doing a hem except there’s elastic inside,
and I sewed around it once again using a zig-zag
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stitch. I also continued to stretch it gently
so that there was no bunching in the fabric
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– you’ll actually be able to feel how
much you’ll need to stretch it this time
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around, this only really makes sense once
you’re actually sewing but yeah. Stretch
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it the same amount all the way around the
armhole – and you’re done.
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Now once I’d done that for both armholes
and for the neckline, I just needed to attach
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an elastic band at the bottom. So I showed
you all how to do this in better detail in
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episode #53, so I’m just going to go through
it very quickly here.
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I quartered both the elastic band, which I'd
measured to fit my waist, and bottom of the
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top with pins, and then I sewed them together,
right-sides together, all the way around the
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top’s bottom edge, stretching the elastic
so that the pins met up.
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Then I unfolded the elastic and I’m done.
Now you can also top-stitch the elastic down
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like this, but that’s totally up to you.
I find that it doesn’t really matter whether
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its top-stitched or not.
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Soooo time for the reveal! How did I go?
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[Fun electronic music plays]
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I actually made 3 sports bras in this way!
This orange one, this Marvel one and this
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green one, all from old t-shirts, but you
don’t have to use an old t-shirt – you
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can use any fabric that you want (as long
as it's stretchy).
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Now, here’s some tips on making it more
supportive if you want to use this more as
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a sports bra, or if you wanna go bra-free
underneath.
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So you can make it tighter-fitting at the
sides. So, when you’re making your pattern,
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don't add a seam allowance at the sides, and
bring it in a little bit.
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You can also use a thicker elastic band, and
also make the top SHORTER so that the elastic
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band is just underneath your bust, kind of
holding everything up.
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You can also copy your pattern off something
with a T-back.
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Or you can make thicker straps while you're
making your pattern, and you can also make
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the straps a little bit shorter.
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And you can also use power mesh or something
else similar like that for your fabric. You
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don’t need to use an old-tshirt, or, if
you want to use an old t-shirt, you could
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line it with power mesh fabric as well.
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But if you’re above a C-cup, or you wanna
do some really intense workouts with this
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thing, you’re probably still better off
with an actual sports bra because they’re
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made with these fancy materials that wick
moisture away, and are also made this super
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fancy equipment which is beyond the scope
of home-sewers.
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Still, give it a go! Worse comes to worst,
you'll end up with a cute, fashionable crop
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top. And if you’ve got any more useful tips,
leave them in the comments below!
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I hope you enjoyed this video, sadly it’s
coming to the end of the warm season here
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in Australia so I’m packing all of my crop
tops and sports bras away for the next few
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months – but I know that a lot of you watching
are from the Northern Hemisphere, so I hope
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you can make good use out of this tutorial!
If you do, I’d love to see the results,
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tag them with #diyannika on Instagram to show
them to me.
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Now it’s time for some period talk! Uh - what
Annika? What? This video took a left-turn.
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Yeahhh, but if you’re a person who gets
their period, I recommend that you stick around
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for the next part. This video is sponsored
by an app called Clue. Clue tracks your period
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and I’ve personally been using the app myself
for almost 2 years, and I think that it is
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such a useful application, which is why I’m
going to tell you all about it right now.
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Now Clue – C-L-U-E – is a FREE app, that
you can get on the iOS and the android app
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stores, and since I started to use it almost
2 years ago, I actually don’t know how I
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would live without this app. I have a lot
of unrelated health stuff going on, if you
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follow my social media accounts you know all
about that – but knowing when my period
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is going to turn up is pretty useful because
it’s just one less thing that I have to
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worry about. I also take a lot of medications
that mess around with my hormones, so having
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this information for myself and for my doctor
is just really useful. And it’s free. Guys,
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it's free. I fricken love this app.
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Okay so I wanna show you all how this actually
works so… we can’t really avoid this - you’re
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all going to know my cycle now.
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Cool.
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Oooh boy. Okay so I actually didn’t realise
how close I was to my next period, and now
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I know to be prepared. Now there’s actually
reminders you turn on so that you know when
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your next period is coming - I'm going to
turn these on now.
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Now I find THIS reminder here really useful
– these clouds are telling me, from tracking
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my cycle for the past 2 years, that I’m
probably about to start having PMS. So when
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I’m randomly crying at babies on TV and
I don’t know why I check the app and then
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I’m like, oh yeah, PMS, cool cool cool.
I’m not losing my mind, it’s just Aunt
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Flo.
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So this app has been rated #1 by a bunch of
doctors and top researchers, and I’ve used
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and it also now comes with a pill-tracking
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the app is it that gives you a lot of good
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normy... normy?? [laughs] about what's considered
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actually learnt some stuff on here that I
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– so when I’m freaking out that something
isn’t normal the app usually tells me that
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it is – but it also does say when you should
probably go and see a doctor as well.
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OH YEAH and I don’t use this feature myself,
uh because I’m generally a private person
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- says the girl who is sharing this with literally
hundreds of thousands of people -
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But you can share your cycle with other people
as well, so, you know, the people you live
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with or your partner, your best friend, whatever
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So yeah, I have a link to download Clue in
the description box below, or you can find
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it on your app store by just typing in CLUE.
Thank you for supporting the companies that
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support my channel, I’m very selective with
my sponsorship opportunities and I always
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believe in the companies that I bring to you
guys, so you know that my promotion of this
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app is LEGIT. Clue rocks. The end.
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Thanks for watching and I’ll see you all
next time. Bye!
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Thank you to all of my supporters on Patreon
for making these videos possible.
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To become my patreon supporter, go to patreon.com/annikavictoria!