DIY Shirt with a Knot Detail

All of us have plenty of plain long sleeve shirts that, although practical, get boring after some time. You can try this quick, easy, and no-sew DIY shirt trick for turning a plain shirt into a more interesting outfit by braiding the sleeves and making a knot detail. If you do not have a plain shirt handy, try our suggestion below – you know you can never have too many of them!

I came across a blog post that suggested braiding the sleeves of a long sleeve sweater, so I decided to give it a try using a plain pink shirt. Keep in mind that this braiding DIY will shorten the length of your sleeves, but hey, ¾ length sleeves are a great way to show off a nice accessory like a watch or a bracelet.

First, I marked one inch intervals on the sleeve. The marks should be opposite of the sleeve’s seam (this will match up with the middle of the sleeve once you have the shirt on). Ideally, you will use chalk to make these marks. However, I had a cute pen in a light color that was barely visible on the fabric, so I ended up using it instead. The marks should start from the neckline of the shirt and go all the way down to the end of the shirt.

 

Turn the marks into lines – each line should be half an inch long and it should start at the mark. Next, cut along these lines. Because the sleeve is folded flat, you will be cutting through two layers of fabric simultaneously. This will turn your half inch lines into one inch cuts and will save you some time.

 

You will see that after cutting the lines there are loops along the sleeve. Starting from the neckline, pull the second loop under the first one, then the third loop under the second one, and so on. Once you have braided all the loops, tie the last one in a nod or sew it to end the braid (I just made a cute little nod to avoid any sewing).
I did this for both sleeves of the shirt and also made three cuts/loops right below the neckline for a cute knot detail. I was not able to braid the entire length of the neckline because braiding shortens the shirt – I would not be able to fit my head through the collar if I braided it all.
I am really happy with how DIY shirt turned out and how easy it was to complete. Check out this post and see how you can use a similar trick for an infinity scarf.