How to Crop a Shirt: 5 Ways to Make a Crop Top

A crop top is a T-shirt where the bottom edge is cut off, exposing the belly button if enough fabric is trimmed. Designers and clothing labels create and sell crop tops, but you can turn an old or oversized T-shirt into a crop top as a simple DIY project. Crop tops are light garments often worn in the spring and summer. Crop tops more commonly have short sleeves, but these tops can feature long sleeves (as with crop top hoodies) or be sleeveless tank tops.

Consider the following no-sew and no-cut methods of making different styles of crop tops from an old shirt:

1. 1. Make your own crop top T-shirt. Fold your shirt in half vertically, holding the center of the collar with your left hand and lining the sleeves up with your right. Lay the shirt on a flat surface, and measure how much you want to cut off the bottom. Then, place some weights or heavy books toward the top of the shirt. Pull up the part of the shirt you want to crop off, and snip through in a straight line using your fabric scissors.
2. 2. Create fun fringes. Fringes can be a nice addition to your T-shirt upcycle. Fold your T-shirt in half and smooth it out on a flat surface. Measure how much of the fabric you want to cover your body before snipping the fringe. Then, unfold the shirt and lay it flat down with the front of the shirt facing up. Snip about two inches up the bottom of the shirt every inch or so, working your way around the back and sides of the shirt. You can stretch out the fringe pieces to make them thinner and stringier.
3. 3. Tie a front knot. You can create a fun crop top without cutting your shirt. With your shirt on, cup your right hand around the bottom left side of your shirt. Thread the shirt through your right hand and then cinch when you are comfortable with the size of your crop top. Tie a knot with this part of the shirt and let it dangle off to the side.
4. 4. Cut the sides. Fold your shirt vertically in half, place it on a flat surface, and make two-inch cuts with fabric scissors into the sides of the shirt every inch or so. Unfold the shirt, and pull at the cutouts, opening them up and thinning them out. Then, grab each fringe and cut it in half. Tie the two sides of each bisected fringes to create a shorter, cinched top with ribbons running up the side.

Crop tops can be a fun statement piece to complete your ensemble. Consider the following ways to wear a crop top:

1. 1. Try a black crop top with jeans. A black crop top will pop beneath a denim jacket and matching high-waisted jeans. This streetwear getup is simple but fashionable and works well for more casual outfits.
2. 2. Match a crop top with a long, flowy skirt. These two articles of clothing give you a lot to play with: a plaid skirt sitting high on the waist can go nicely with a solid-colored crop top matching the hue of the skirt’s thinner stripes. Or, a striped crop top can complement a solid skirt of a different color entirely.
3. 3. Wear a sleeveless crop top with shorts. For warmer weather, a sleeveless crop top can pair well with shorts to make for fashionable boardwalk attire or beachwear.
4. 4. Pair overalls with a crop top. For a summery look, wear a crop top under denim or corduroy overalls.

Get a MasterClass Annual Membership and let Tan France be your very own style maestro. Queer Eye’s fashion guru spills everything he knows about building a capsule collection, finding a signature look, understanding proportions, and more (including why it’s important to wear underwear to bed)—all in a soothing British accent, no less.