Monday, March 1, 2010

refashioned men's shirt


This is something I've had on my mind for a while now since I've got a growing collection of cast off, button-up shirts crowding my craft closet. This project totally appeals to my craft pack rat sensibilities. ("I could do something with this" is a phrase often heard in our household.)

Before I tell you how I did it, I have to give props to My Mama Made It for all of her cute shirt reconstructions and this blouse by Angry Chicken. Both served as the kick in the pants I needed to finally take on this little project. So, here's goes. Forgive the lack of technical terms.

The starting point, one of Rich's dress shirts (thanks, hon!):


First, I flipped it over, back facing up, and cut off the sleeves and collar.


Next, I tried the shirt on and decided where best it would fit across the chest and under my arms. On me, that required raising it up about 3 inches. I had to cut new shoulders and neck openings, fortunately under the back yoke, which I removed completely. I made the neckline lower in the front than the back by about 2 inches. (For the back neck line, I ended up cutting about 1.5 inches above a button. I'll show you in a sec how I finished that off.) I also drafted new side seams to fit my form a little better (but not too much - it's still a fairly loose fit). Here it is, right sides facing and basted:


I tried it on again to check the fit before sewing the seams. To finish the arm and neck holes, I applied a water soluble hem tape to the wrong side edges and turned them under twice, topstitching 1/4 inch from the edge.

In the back I added a new button hole and a covered button in one of my favorite fabrics. I don't love how this part turned out, but it's rarely seen, so I'm not stressing. Ignore the sloppy stitching.


On to the embellishment! From the leftover sleeve material, I cut three strips, approximately 3 inches deep by 20, 18, and 16 inches wide, respectively, then serged the edges...


and used my ruffler to pleat the pieces.


Finally, I eyeballed their placement on the front of the blouse (formerly the back of the shirt), pinned and stitched them down along the ruffle seam line.

Ta DA!

      
So when I mentioned to my friend Neva that I'd made this blouse out of one of Rich's old shirts, she immediately responded, "Rich had a Puffy Shirt?!" Um. No. I was both flattered and chagrined. It's nice that she just couldn't imagine a pretty, feminine blouse having once been a regular, old men's dress shirt. On the other hand, she apparently thought that my husband might have, at one time, worn something like this.

9 comments:

Larissa Holland said...

oooooooh...this turned out so pretty! snicker snicker about Rich in the puffy shirt. i need to find some more old shirts and try this! I love love love the ruffles.

Unknown said...

So very feminine! oh, to have the nerve to make my own clothes!

Olivia Craig said...

Love it! Very flirty and feminine.

Robyn said...

Thanks, ladies. I highly recommend trying this out - when you've got zero investment involved, winging it can be a lot of fun!

That said, Jessica, it took a while for me to work up the nerve for making a wearable without a pattern, for sure. But, if I can do it, you definitely can.

Larissa Holland said...

I meant to ask the first time: why did you use the soluble hem tape for the arm holes? does it make it easier to turn a skinny hem? I have never used any.

Robyn said...

Larissa - to be perfectly honest, I had it on hand and just thought I'd try it. Broadening my craft notion horizons. It was simple to apply and turn b/c it stiffens what would otherwise be a pretty flimsy edge. That's just what I happened to use - you can turn the hem any ol' way you like.

Larissa Holland said...

cool. I'm always looking for ways to make things easier! might need to pick some up...

Collar Stays said...

I read your post. Really it's a interesting post by you.Thanks for all the reviews you write about fashion shirt. This shirt looks really beautiful.

Anonymous said...

OMG!! this is AMAZING!! onto goodwill I will go to find a mans dress shirt! I LOVE THIS!!

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