Love to "Stranger Things"

 Hello Readers. It is July already. When I was thinking of a theme for this month, the 4th of July kept coming up. But is it possible to wear the colors red, white, and blue without looking like you are on a political campaign running for mayor? For today, let's just upcycle/refashion something red.

I am hooked on the Netflix show "Stranger Things". If you lived through the 80's you will love the flashbacks to the past. It's a great story. A major part of the story line is that the kids play the fantasy game "Dungeons & Dragons". I have never played the game but when I saw this shirt I thought it would be perfect for a "Stranger Things" watch party. The latest episodes come out tonight.

 

Before and after.

This was a men's shirt and it was big and long on me. There was enough fabric to make a short dress or some kind of a shirt. You already know what I chose. 

I am not exaggerating, this is a "Dungeons & Dragons" shirt.

The graphic on the front of the shirt really guided what I did with this shirt. I wanted to make a dropped waist dress because I didn't want to cut the graphic. I cut the bottom of the shirt off and saved it for later.

I also cut off the sleeves because they were so big on me and it is summer and I wanted a sleeveless style dress.

I used my dress form to pin the sides so I could get the size of this dress correct. I put the top of the shirt on the dress form inside out so I could pin the right sides together.

I stitched the sides together and cut off the excess fabric. I had a basic sleeveless shape. It was a good start.

This video is a quick summary of what I did and how I started to finish the arm holes.

When I finished the armholes I noticed they gaped open. I needed to fix that.

I pinned the armhole to make darts in the bodice.

I used my sewing machine to stitch the dart and then I cut off the excess fabric. This shirt is a heavy weight knit cotton so it is easy to work with and it won't fray. This would be more difficult with a thin fine knit fabric.

The next step was to attach the skirt back to the top. I pinned the right sides together and tried to distribute the skirt around the top evenly.

My dress was finished. It was fun and I liked it but I thought it might a little short. I decided to add a bit of length.

I added this ribbon for a couple reasons. It matched so well it just blended into the dress and added about 1 1/4 inches of length to the dress. It also helped weight the skirt down so it doesn't turn up and look even shorter.

This dress is perfect for a "Stranger Things" watch party. The menu is going to be a waffle bar with all the toppings you can think of.

If the Demigorgon comes after me, it will look something like this. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This was a great t-shirt conversion. I added a sweater and wore it in fall too.