Window Blinds to Summer Clothes

 Hello Readers. I took some fabric blinds down from the windows in my dining room and almost got rid of them. But then I realized I could make something out of that fabric. I liked the yellow and blue, just  not on my windows. They were pretty though. I decided to make a fun summer outfit from the fabric. 

 Before and after. 

These blinds were pretty but I replaced them. There was a second blind identical to this one, with all that fabric, I hoped I could make something really fabulous.  

I used this Simplicity 9408 pattern. I wanted the outfit in the middle. I liked the shorts with the long tunic style shirt. Let's get to work. 

 

When I say these are blinds, I mean they are Roman blinds with strings and a simple kind of pulley system in back to raise and lower them. I had to take everything apart to remove the strings and the lining and get the yellow fabric separated for me to use. 

 

I cut out all my pieces, including the neck and armhole facings. I hate neck facing, It is kind of a pain to sew in and it feels bulky to me. But, I was going to follow the pattern and do this right. (Spoiler- I did not follow the pattern and I did not do it right.)

 

The shorts came together easily. I first needed to sew the side seams.

 

Next I had to add the elastic waistband. I gave the shorts a simple hem. I followed the directions of the pattern for a pair of boxer shorts that I had because I didn't want to put in a zipper and I wanted a stretchy waistband. These shorts were not the difficult part of this outfit. 

 

Here is a look at the top. Can you spot the problem? It would never fit around my body. It was like a size 0-2. I did not check the measurements of the pattern carefully enough. I should have sized up to a bigger size in the top for sure. 

 Now what was I going to do??? I had run out of blinds. This was it. But my mom didn't raise a quitter, I'm going to do something.

 

This is literally all the fabric that I had left. Maybe if I had not cut out the neck and arm facings, I would have had more fabric. (I hate neck facings!!!) I had this small amount of very wide yellow grosgrain ribbon, I put it all together to make side panels. I was going to make the top and leave it sort of open on the sides. 

 

Short video of my mental break-down while I was working with this top.

 

This is what I ended up with. It had to work because I was out of fabric, out of patience and ready to fight this new top in a back alley somewhere. 
 

I tried this on and I was surprised because I loved how it turned out. It was comfortable and I liked the pop of bright yellow on the sides. The side panels cover everything that needed to be covered but the open sides are great for the heat on August. Thanks for reading along as I fought with this window blind upcycle, now go make something fun for yourself.