Old Shirt to New Shirt - A New Favorite

So, still reeling from my unsuccessful shopping trip, I hit Pinterest for refashioning inspiration. I came across one for refashioning a collared-button down into a cute summer top. Love it! So easy, required very little sewing and hardly any precision (thank goodness).

Charles had just added some stuff to our Goodwill donation bag, but I wasn't feeling the brown checkers that his shirts afforded me. So, off to my own closet, where I knew I had a shirt that I hadn't worn in years, but for some reason never got rid of.  Here's the before and after since I didn't take too many pics of the process.

Before: I haven't worn this in years.

Ready to wear again!

I cut off the sleeves first.  Then the collar. With it pinned to my dress form, I cut straight across the front and back. I then pinned over about a inch to make a casing for the ribbon. Below, you can see that I've already sewn the casing and put it back on my dress form.

I reached into my ribbon stash and found just enough cream satin ribbon to complete this refashion. You can use a safety pin to thread the ribbon through the casing, but because for some reason I had one handy in my sewing room, I used a large bobby pin.

So it goes in one side, starting at the front, through the button area, around the back and back to where you started. Here, tie it into a bow, or whatever fashion you prefer.

Tada! That's it. Shirt done. I tried to not bother Charles, who was working, so I took my own pictures.

Uhm, I can't really do a selfie.

But then I bothered him for a normal picture.

This would be cuter if I fixed myself up or something.

Yes, This Time I'm Wearing a Sheet

I went shopping yesterday -- with no success. Gift cards in hand, I hit The Loft, The Gap, and Banana Republic (they are all in a row, I didn't go out of my way.) I spent the most time -- 15 minutes -- in The Loft, bypassing the front of the store and heading right to the sale racks. Even on sale, there was nothing I wanted to spend my money (uh, gift cards) on. Worse luck in the other two stores, I headed home and hit my sewing room.

I pulled out this sheet I got at a thrift store last year. $2.99

I wanted to make a circle-neck halter -- I have been wanting to make one for a year now. I only wish I had a pattern, or a shirt to copy, but I didn't and I just dove in.

First, the collar:

Eh, good enough.

Then, I cut out to rectangles of fabric -- no pictures of this. I short of used a t-shirt as a size guide. I angled the sides of the front one for the arm area. Then, I pinned to them to my dress form and pinned in some pleats on the front. 

I added a casing to the back and added elastic to allow me to have some "give" when putting it on and off. It also helps hold it up. 

Here's where it goes downhill and is a lesson in planning in advance.

Mistake 1: I wish I had thought ahead about how I wanted the back of the halter collar to look. I thought I could make another half-circle, but then I realized I wouldn't get it over my head. I grabbed an old necklace -- white beads -- to see if I could use it somehow. Nah.

So, I added straps down the back, because I really wanted to keep that neckline in the front.

The other problem -- when I took it off the dress form and tried it on, the back was way too low -- side-boob may work for Miley Cyrus, but not on me. I had to rip out the seams on each side and redo them to bring up the back.

Lots of extra fabric -- the problem with not measuring.

This shirt is full of flaws. The neckline is crooked, the fit isn't great. But hey - it was a $2.99 sheet; I still have lots left to make something else. And I'd probably wear this to Farmer's Market, or around the house on a weekend. Not too bad. Oh - I think I'll add 2 little pockets to the bottom front. That might be cute.

Sunglasses inside 'cause I look like crappy-crap.