Dangerous Curves Ahead: Making New Arm Holes

Hello Readers. How are you enjoying your Fall? My Fall is warm in the afternoons and that is perfect weather for today's project. Wear a sweater over it in the morning and then in the afternoon, BOOM! Show everyone your muscles. Or in my case, show your scrawny, yet somehow, still flabby arms.

I started with this Jones of New York blouse. It looks like a pajama top on me. And notice the arms? Those arms need to go and I have a plan to make the shoulders more narrow. That means I need to sew new arm holes. Curves are not easy for me. This could get dangerous.

Ok, not that dangerous. Read on.

First, I cut off the arms. I cut along the shoulder seam and pinned the arm holes the way I wanted.

 This fabric frayed a lot and was very silky and difficult to sew. I had trouble keeping the arm holes smooth when I sewed them up. I wanted to make the shoulder more narrow when I saw the finished product but I am not going to mess with this top again.

Here is an after picture and you can see all the fabric I cut away. I took a little off the sides too.

Ta da! This is my best Broadway pose.

What? Another shirt? This is too much! Yes, it's true. I made one for my daughter. Hers was easier and I liked it better so that is why you are seeing it here. It was a basic button down shirt from L.L.Bean. These polka dots are super cute. I cut the sleeves off before I took this picture.

Here is a good picture of the cut along the shoulder seam. I made her shoulders even more narrow. They looked great when they were done. This fabric was a bit thicker and much easier to work with.

The new arm hole was pinned in place. I used the iron before I stitched it on the machine and hoped for the best with the arm holes. It was easier this time. I think the practice I had and the heavier weight fabric helped a lot.

Here is the finished top. She really liked it and the arm holes came out nicely. She wanted me to protect her identity in these pictures.

I survived the dangerous curves of this project and you can too. Thanks for reading, now go make something fabulous for yourself.