Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Button Down to Summer Dress

 Hello Readers. Let's do a "blue" refashion project. We are all in the thick of summer. If you are in the U.S. you have felt the heat wave that has crossed the nation by now. Ugh, it's too hot!! I have a "cool" refashion idea. 

 
Before and after.

This shirt seemed to be a men's extra large. I loved the tiny floral print. It reminded me of the "Little House on the Prairie" dresses at Target. I almost made one just for fun but I am not interested in wearing that style so I decided to make a dress I would like.

I tried the shirt on and marked how large I wanted the bodice of my dress to be. These 2 pencils are marking the places where I wanted to make new side seams. I marked it with chalk but it is hard to see in the photo. I also decided where to cut the bottom of the shirt off. I wanted a high waist on this dress so the bodice is not very long. Mine is approximately 14 inches.

Here is my new bodice with the sleeves cut off. The sleeves and arm holes were so large on me that I decided they needed to be removed and saved for a later day. 

Here is a better look at the main parts of my new dress. The skirt of the dress is the bottom of the shirt. I wanted the skirt of this dress to be as full as possible so I didn't alter the size of the skirt piece. Now I need to put these 2 pieces together.

I used my clips to make sure the skirt is spread out around the bodice. You could also sew them together loosely by hand and arrange the fabric evenly that way. I wanted to make some pleats so the clips worked for me. The next step is sewing these 2 pieces together with my sewing machine to make it strong and sturdy.

The final step was to finish the armholes. I wanted to make them nice and neat. There are so many ways to do this. This time I decided to add some eyelet lace trim to the armholes. Laura Ingalls Wilder would have approved of this lace I am sure. The lace coves the cut edge of the armhole and makes it look nicely finished.

I have worn this dress a lot since I made it. I didn't know I needed it until I had it ready to wear. 

It even went on vacation and played mini golf. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
*Year End Note From Chickie- This dress got a lot of wear this summer. It was perfect for summer.






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