Saturday, January 5, 2013

Shirt Makeover

I do not know why I didn't take the before picture for this project but I thought I did. I blame all the busy-ness and craziness of the holidays... So, I will just give a description of the before shirt, I hope you will get a better idea of what I did.

I found the shirt at a thrift store for $5. The pretty floral print caught my eye; it reminded me of Liberty of London’s style. A while ago, JCrew had a shirt that Liberty of London designed just for them. I loooved the shirt but it had a pretty hefty price tag of $150.00... I have absolutely no plans to pay $150.00 for a shirt in the near future (or never). This will be the closest I can get to a Liberty of London-ish shirt. :)

The shirt was sized XL. I usually wear XS or S, depends on the brand or style of the clothes. I have done alterations from Medium to Small, or Small to X-small, but never from XL to Small. I hesitated a little, because I didn't want to make a mess and waste the shirt, but I decided to give it a try.

This shirt was from Nautica, it had a collar and was a button down shirt. There were pleats below and above the bust line.

1. I cut off the collar; I always wanted a pretty floral shirt with an open round neck. I added bias tape, and put elastic.

2. I created an additional button hole and sewed on a button.

3. I sewed both sides of the shirt and sleeves to make it smaller.

4. I then cut off the wide cuff, and created thin bias. Then, I gathered the fabric and added the bias tape.

5. I tried the shirt on, but it was still too big around the chest and back area. So I created four pleats each on the front and back, by mimicking the pleats that already existed.

6. I am ready to enjoy my refashioned shirt!


I love love the shirt. The round neck and the sleeves are exactly how I wanted them to be. Now that I have worn it a couple times since, I feel like I need to make some adjustments around the midsection, but I am not intimidated by it anymore.

16 comments:

  1. I love this. It is so great to have something timeless like a liberty style print but make it modern. Great thinking and a complete change.

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  2. I thoroughly enjoy your creativity and the feminine touches that you add to everything. I desire to do similar things and it is nice to see the end results of your investments. Thanks Tea Rose.

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  3. That fabric really is lovely. And I think you did a very nice job refashioning this shirt.

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  4. I just love what you did with this shirt!! It is so soft and feminine now. You did a great job of figuring out what to do and how to accomplish your vision. You are so talented. Always enjoy your blog and your creative endeavors, but not always good at letting you know I enjoy them. Trying to get back in the swing of bloggin this year. Blessings, Linda

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  5. Beautiful job! It does look like a Liberty print fabric!

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  6. It is really a pretty print. I never thought of doing something like this, and I think it turned out really well. Pretty!

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  7. So pretty! I really love the sleeves. I hate tight 3/4 sleeves. Those sit so nicely! WEll done, its perfect and looks so cute on you! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Oh, that is so pretty! I love what you are wearing it with too. =)

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  9. What a beautiful shirt you have made!! I love the fabric!

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  10. Your shirt turned out so beautifully. I hope one day to acquire skills to fix up thrift store shirts like that. Great job!

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  11. that's look comfy and simple too

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  12. first of all, i've been following your blog for a couple of years. your blog always makes me smile and makes me feel light and happy. so don't question your abilities and gifts, which are a godsend. you, sachiko, are so gifted and more importantly, so blessed.

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  13. You never cease to amaze me with your creativity. Everything you make is beautiful!

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  14. first I would like to wish you the best for this year begining.Now for the shirt, it is well done but it is true a little more work on the midsection will do better. Bravo !

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