shirt refashion

I found this men's dress shirt at the Saver's 50% off sale on Monday. The light blue fabric has tiny white stripes in it-- perfect for a summery blouse. It was a pretty easy refashion-- I cut the collar off, added an inverted pleat in the back to make the shoulders sit properly, cut the neckline and added pleats in the front, chopped and gathered the sleeves, and shortened and hemmed the bottom. (used this tutorial for inspiration).

It took me the better part of an afternoon, but that's because I had to take lots of breaks to take care of kids, feed the baby and do laundry. But really, it's practically an instant gratification project. Who doesn't love instant gratification?

I decided that I like refashioning a whole lot better than sewing from scratch. Call me crazy, but brand new fabric and a pattern make me feel pressured. Like the they're telling me, "You've only got one chance to get this right!!" (what? doesn't your fabric talk to you?) Refashions are so much more forgiving-- I like making up the rules as I go along, and taking things apart to refashion them is teaching me more about sewing than any pattern ever did.

I've got three more shirt refashions waiting in the wings. Next up, a pink men's shirt into a feminine blouse.

P.S. please excuse the blurriness of the after picture-- I used a four year old photographer.