How to Alter a Low Cut T-shirt

Not all T-shirts are cut to fit a woman’s curves, and those that do sometimes sport an alarmingly low neckline. Wearing a cami underneath the shirt is the easiest way to cover things up, but if you’re not a fan of layering, you can use a number of other possible fixes -- ranging from as simple as a safety pin to as complicated as a bit of tailoring -- to help you close the gaps.

Things You'll Need

• Fabric
• Pen or tailor’s pencil
• Straight pins
• Needle and thread, or sewing machine
• Scissors
• Decorative drawstring
• Brooch or safety pin

Instructions

1. Cut a rectangle of fabric to stitch into your shirt, covering part of the low-cut opening. Put on the shirt, then position the rectangle across your chest inside the shirt. Have a friend mark where the upper edges of the rectangle lie -- on the inside of the shirt -- then, pull the shirt off and turn it inside-out. Turn the shirt inside-out and, using the marks as a guide, pin the rectangle in place. Then, stitch the rectangle to the shirt, sewing along the shirt’s already-existing stitches. Trim extra “cover-up” fabric away from the stitches once you’re done, leaving at least a 1/4-inch border.

2. Stitch a drawstring into the neckline of the shirt, so you can gather the low-cut neckline partly closed. Depending on the shirt’s design, thread a decorative drawstring in and out through small slits you cut in the shirt fabric or hide the drawstring by stitching a fabric sleeve into the inside of the neckline. If you opt for the decorative option, position the ends of the drawstring in the front of the shirt, where you can gather them into a bow. If you opt to hide the drawstring in a sewn-in sleeve, position its ends so you can gather and tie them behind your neck.

3. Draw the bottom edges of the low-cut neckline together -- if there’s enough fabric to do so -- and pin them with a decorative brooch. You can also stitch a small, decorative bow or other accent in place to made this a permanent remedy, or use a discrete safety pin -- positioned so it hangs downward and is less likely to show -- as a temporary fix.