DIY Cut-Outs, Part 2

June 23rd, 2010 → 10:00 am @


A month or so ago I made this post on how to create side cut-outs for your dresses. Lately, another trend I’ve been seeing are tops and frocks that have heart cut-outs in the back. Of course that led to me thinking, “I can do this”! So fellow diy-ers, here’s a quick tutorial on how I revamped a basic blouse I had a falling out with, into a sweet little top. Enjoy!

What you need:

  • Scissors
  • A heart stencil
  • Pins (optional)
  • Needle and thread (optional)

Step One:

Start out by placing your heart stencil where you would like your cutout to be. I decided to make mine not too big (I didn’t want to deal with bra straps showing), and went with a heart approximately 3.5″x3″. Try to center it as much as possible!

Step Two:

Using a pencil, lightly outline your stencil on the fabric.

Step Three:

Time to cut out the heart! I folded my shirt in half to make the first incision, and then followed my outline from there. Now, for those of you with jersey or knit tees, you have the option to stop here. Because I am using a blouse, I hemmed the edges to keep them from fraying.

Step Four:

To begin the hemming process, I snipped about a centimeter into the edge, roughly every half an inch. Basically you want to be able to fold the edge in without any weird harsh lines, so the more incisions you make, the smoother it will be (but too many and it will be too hard to sew).

Step Five:

Fold the edges you just snipped in and pin them into place.


After sewing your pinned edges, you should end up with a heart cut-out like this!

After trying on the shirt, I decided to make the heart a little bigger! All I had to do was snip the edges about an inch deeper, re-sew, and voila:

A simple way to add a little whimsical touch to any top!

What DIY have you been working on? Do you have any projects in particular you’d like me to tackle? Let me know!

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