Simple T-Shirt Refashion gone difficult

Well didn't I feel all smart when I realized how I could simply pull one strap of a way-too-big shirt down over the shoulder and come up with a fancy one-shoulder top?

I sure did! In the photo below, nothing is cut or sewn yet , I just pulled the neck down and it already looked good. So I thought "Easy, this will be done in 15 minutes!" ....

I cut off the excess fabric:

...put the shirt back on the dress form, and had a huge gap. I felt dumb. Really dumb.

But I pretended nothing out of the ordinary had happened and just kept on going. I draped the excess length on the "off-shoulder-side" around the bust until I liked the shape and stitched it in place by hand. I did the same in the back (which was considerably more difficult to get into shape).

I continued pretending the gap was intended, and in fact, cut it out even more, into a somewhat even rectangle shape:

...into which I set a side piece. And you know what? It came out all fine and good. Maybe even better than if I hadn't cut off too much fabric and the drapy sides would have met in a side seam. That might have turned out bulky.

Please ignore the loose serger stitches. I wasn't in the mood to fiddle with that anymore... and since I usually don't walk around with my arm lifted way over my head, it isn't that bad...

While I am not sure I would do it like this again next time, I am pleased with the save and the result. If you have a shirt that's big enough to pull the neck over the shoulder, maybe you can come up with a neater solution? Let me know if you do!

Another re-fashion is on it's way already. This one will be very different, about six pieces turned into one! So far it looks promising :-)

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