T-Shirt to Shrug

I'm too lazy to put it on.

Tonight I finally made a t-shirt shrug. I have been holding onto this t-shirt since...well, let's just say this shirt traveled with me through Central America and across the US during our "career break" which means it has spent a lot of time in a back pack. I was sick of it. I threw it in the "refashion" pile (which is a real thing - want to see pics?) and waited...

Tonight I finally went back to my Pinterest board to find the inspiration and did it.

Let me tell you how easy this refashion is...it took me all of 20  minutes. And it would have been even easier had I not kept stopping to take sips of my martini. (Rough day at work, don't judge.) So for you folks who sew sober, this should only take about 15 minutes. Nice.

Grab a t-shirt and cut it up the front center and cut out the neckline. Doesn't matter if it's v-neck or crew. Mine even had a nice stain on the front. You really can't sweat the small stuff here.

After cutting, pin a hem (with the rough edge on the inside, seriously I actually did this wrong the first time) about an inch wide all around the cut edge. You are now making a case for the ribbon you'll use to tie it together in the front. Once pinned, sew it up all around.

Pin, pin, pin. 

 Once you sew a casing, thread a ribbon through the casing and tie in front. I tied a ribbon to a large bobby pin and pushed that through. Use a safety pin, or whatever works for you.

I don't think my ribbon was long enough. It got all the way through with barely enough to make a bow. I wish I could tell you how to measure, but my ribbon was at least 2 feet long, and I wish it was longer. Next time, I'll measure.

Uh, cute or what?

Then I realized, I wanted a purple cardigan to wear with this refashion -- but I'm not going to buy a new sweater. I can wear this t-shirt shrug with it. Ta-da!

Refashion, meet Refashion. I'm sure you'll get along just fine.

80's Fab to Now Wow (ha)

When I bought this dress at the thrift store, it was a stretch. The fabric is pretty bad, it's sort of slippery in a plastic way; the shoulder pads were overwhelming, and I wasn't even sure it would fit overall. But guess what? I liked the pattern (yeah, that's a theme with me.)

Nice sleeves. And neck.

So - I brought it home and threw it on my dress form to consider the possibilities. First things first - those sleeves had to go. Not to mention the neck.

That's much better. 

Next - pin up those jagged edges and sew in a hem. Easy peasy.

Then I wanted to do something about that rounded neckline - just to play around I tucked it in and sewed in an asymmetrical neckline.

Pinning the neckline and sleeves. 

I think it came out okay - not great, just okay.

Next up, loose some of the  length, add a sash and done. New updated dress to wear to work! I don't know, not bad for $9.00.

Ready for the office.