Dress Shirt goes Fashion! (With step-by-step)

Hello everybody! I hope you are having a great summer!

Well I am finally back, after lots of work and some vacation, and I got around to doing another refashion for refashion co-op.

I got this old - but good-quality - dress shirt from my husband, really too good to throw away, and I needed some short-sleeve tops for myself anyway. But of course I thought what probably most of you are thinking: another men's dress shirt refashion, just cutting off sleeves and collar and turning it into a women's short-sleeve blouse? Yawn! 

A bit of brainstorming later I came up with this so-simple twist. One thing I learned: Less is more, most of the time. So I went for ONE eye-catcher on this one:

It sports a cute "cut-in" shape sleeve (as opposed to "cut-outs"....). The "sleeve" being just the yoke from the men's shirt, left entirely "intact", in front as well as in the back:

What is great about this re-fashion is that it gets rid of the parts that usually are worn down most in men's shirts: Collar, cuffs, and even the arm-pits will be cut away if you are using a shirt that is way too big on you...

It was almost too simple to give a step-by-step, but here goes:

Linen Remake - with tutorial / how-to!

Summer is here! As much as I'm starting to get into sewing quick t-shirts from jersey (tutorial coming up!), the best thing to wear on a hot day is loose linen or silk tops. This shirt was handed down to me from my generous husband (who dislikes the fast wrinkling...). It was in good shape, just -well- a man's cut and size...

I know pin-tucks are usually placed closer to the center, but I didn't want to take off the collar and I needed to get rid of some excess width on the shoulders anyway, so I placed them further out than normal. I think it adds a lovely twist with them going over the shoulder and all the way down the back...

It was a quick project and gave me the chance to finally start using some of those pressure feet I never use, as well as some specialty stitches from my machine.

The Cowgirl Refashion!

Or: When pant legs turn into sleeves...

Do you think I post a lot of refashions lately because I believe they take less time than clothes made from scratch? - Yes, that't true.
Do refashions REALLY take less time? - Nope, that's not true :-)

...especially if you take a guys shirt and girls pants and realize too late that the closures don't match up. More about that later...

The colors of these two items were so similar, they just ASKED for me to marry them...
Uhm yes, I x-ed out my face. I thought it would be funny to make a really silly face, but it ended up so deliciously stupid that I would for sure have landed on some list of "worst pictures people post of themselves"...

T-Shirt Refashion-Extravaganza! Project 3

Well, after my 3- and 4-shirt re-fashions, what can follow? Sure, the 5-shirts would be obvious, but no, I am following up with a simple t-shirt from a t-shirt. But:

It's a refashioned refashion!

I am totally in love with it now, which is why I find it worth reporting even though it is such a small little project.
The first time I made this, it started from a thrifted knit tank:

T-Shirt Refashion-Extravaganza! Project 2

As promised, here it comes, my next t-shirt-upcycling-project!

This one is a little less beach and a bit more elegant than the first project. Same basic idea though - an easy-to-wear jersey dress made from shirts I don't wear (anymore). I originally chose a different combination and meant to make something roughly like this:

T-Shirt Refashion-Extravaganza! Project 1

Is there anything better to wear in summer than a one-piece-jersey dress? No double layers and bulking at the waist, and you can just throw it in the washing machine like a regular t-shirt and don't even have to iron it afterwards. Well, it was time I made myself some of these!

I had cleaned out my closet a while ago, and - being a Re-fashionista - it took care of the problem in the closet, but made the one in the sewing room much worse... The ever growing pile of fabrics and clothes-to-be-refashioned...!

Look at the huge pile of T-shirts I had sorted out - some because of the wrong fit, some because of stains, some from my husband, and well, many because I just actually don't really wear t-shirts at all:

Much better than the sales bin at a fabric store, right? :-)

Original Vintage Refashion!

Yes, I promised a new free pattern, and I am almost ready with it. But first I had to fit in my monthly contribution to the refashion co-op! After last months huge success with the 9 shirts off his back, I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to live up to the expectations for my next project... :-) But how about this - an original 1943 Refashion project?

I own a few German pattern magazines from the 40's and they feature a one-page refashioning section! They certainly had to use all the resources they could get their hands on. In this example, they suggest using an old long-sleeve blouse on which the collar, buttons, underarms and cuffs are torn up and turn it into this cute short-sleeve version, for which you can cut away all the problematic areas...

9 Shirts off his Back!

*** I cleaned out my closet! ***

Doesn't that always feel fabulous? All that new space for new clothes! But then again, being a re-fashionista, the pile in my sewing-room grew bigger and bigger proportionally... even more so since my husband went ahead and cleaned out his side, too...

What was I to do? Well, nine shirts later I got to this:

I used up nine shirts, most of them from my husband, only two from myself - one is missing in the picture below:

Some were short-sleeves, some long, some had stains, others were just out of style, others worn-out in some places. I tried to keep as many elements from the shirts as possible, like the collar, hems, buttons... But see for yourself, I'll give you a little how-to:

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!" ....

The 1938 Dress: Finished! Vote and Win!

If you are here to vote and win, just scroll down to the second half of the post! :-))

So this is the finished dress from my 1938 magazine:

Topturned Pants - Upcycling how-to!

Would you guess that this top:

...had a former life as pants?

Quite a transformation, right? I'll show you some close-ups and then give you a full how-to!

A Fashionable New Fall Favorite!

ME MADE MITTWOCH #18

Deutsch: Grauer Text

English: Blue text blocks

Voilá, heute kann ich wieder ein neues Stück präsentieren für den Me-Made-Mittwoch. Diesen wunderbaren Double-Face Stoff hatte ich schon lange bei mir und wusste nicht so recht, was ich daraus machen kann, damit der Wende-Aspekt so richtig Sinn macht. Bis ich endlich drauf kam, dass es ein ganz simpler Schnitt sein muss. Das Schnittmuster habe ich dann abgekupfert von meinem absolut liebsten Sommer-Teil, welches aus ganz leichter, weisser Baumwolle ist - ich trage es gerne über ärmellose Shirts und überhaupt über alles und täglich. Nun habe ich meine Herbst Version gemacht, habe ein paar Optimierungen am Schnitt vorgenommen und es zum Wende-Teil gemacht, was das weisse Original natürlich nicht war. Es gibt bestimmt 203 Arten, es zu tragen!

Voilá, today I can present a brand new piece again for Me-Made-Wednesday. I had bought this wonderful double-face fabric a while ago but didn't really know what to make out of it so that the double-face would really come into play. Finally I realized that it had to be a really simple pattern and took it off a summer garment I own. The original is made from a very light white cotton and I wear it over sleeveless tops and over basically everything and every day... So I made a Fall version of it, optimized the cut a little bit and made it reversible, which the white cotton piece wasn't. There must be at least 203 ways to wear this!

 

Alle Nähte sind Doppelnähte (französische Nähte), damit man das Teil wenden kann.

I used French seams on the whole garment, so that I can wear it on both sides.

My 10 Piece Travel Set: 9 down, 1 to go!

Wow, I am actually getting closer! These are my pieces number 8 and 9 for my ten piece fall/winter/spring travel set! I have already presented them on my dress form in the last post, but here they come, modeled by me:

I have already presented the skirt, too, with a full how-to/tutorial HERE, in case you are interested. It features half-circle pockets and a visible zip in the back:

But my biggest pride at the moment is this shirt:

Me-Made-Mittwoch #12, hot off the sewing machine!

English speaking visitors welcome! Please scroll to the green textblocks!

Das ist meine Mittwochs Kleidung heute:

This is my outfit today:

Vielleicht langweilt Euch der rote Rock schon - ich habe ihn letzten Mittwoch schon gezeigt (aber  nicht getragen) und Euch auf das Tutorial dafür aufmerksam gemacht. Aber um den Rock geht es ja auch gar nicht, sondern um dieses Shirt:

You might be tired of this skirt already, as you might have seen it last Wednesday and in my tutorial already, but it's all about this shirt:

Ich habe es gerade eben fertig genäht und bin super glücklich damit. Ich nenne es das "süss wie seine Knöpfe-Shirt" (klingt VIEL besser auf Englisch). Es vereint viele meiner Lieblings-Details: Vintage Knöpfe, einen Peter Pan-Kragen, diese kleinen Ärmel, die auf Englisch Cap-Sleeves heissen und deren deutscher Name mir nicht einfällt (ich zähle auf Euch!), und Biesen. Ich habe es selber entworfen und das Schnittmuster hergestellt (*stolz*) und bin sogar mit meiner Ausführung zufrieden. Danke Euch allen für die ermutigenden Worte letzte Woche, die Overlock betreffend. Ich habe ein Buch bestellt und glaube bereits Fortschritte gemacht zu haben, obwohl ich bis jetzt erst das Inhaltsverzeichnis las :-). Hier noch eine Nahaufnahme:

I just finished it minutes before posting it here and I am actually really excited about it. I call it the "cute as its buttons shirt" (vintage buttons) and it features many of the little things I love: pleats, cap sleeves and a peter pan collar. 

I drafted it myself (*proud*), and I am even happy about my execution. Thank you all for your kind words about serging last week! I ordered a book about it and feel like I have made progress already, even though I have only read the table of contents so far :-). Here is a close up:

Natürlich werde ich Euch auch noch zeigen, wie es getragen aussieht. Dieses Top verdient einen separaten Post, denn es gehört auch zu meinem berühmt-berüchtigten 10-teiligen Herbst/Winter/Frühling Reiseset. Dort präsentiere ich es dann auch mit den Hosen, Shorts etc. Hoffentlich komme ich morgen schon dazu.

I will show you how it looks on me when I write the actual post about it. It deserves an extra post because it is also part of my 10 piece fall/winter/spring travel set. I should get around to it tomorrow, hopefully.

Schönen Mittwoch euch allen - wer auch mitmachen will, hier geht's zu Cat-und-Kascha.

Und HIER findet ihr die anderen Mittwochs-Kleider!

Happy Wednesday everyone - if you want to join the fun and wear me-made-outfits (uhm- I guess that would be you-made outfits then...) every Wednesday, go to Cat-und-Kascha. And check out the other great outfits today HERE!

A new shirt for Me-Made-Mittwoch #11!

For non-German readers, please scroll down to the green text blocks!

Juhui, nach zwei-wöchiger Abstinenz bin ich zurück beim MMM! Und zur Feier schreibe ich jetzt einmal versuchsweise einen zwei-sprachigen Post, da doch die meisten MMM-Besucher deutsch-sprachig sind... 

Übrigens trug ich tatsächlich trotzdem Selbstgeschneidertes an den letzten beiden Mittwochen, aber ich wäre nicht in Ruhe zum Fotografieren gekommen, und schon gar nicht zum Lesen der anderen Beiträge, darum liess ich es ganz bleiben.

Dafür kann ich Euch hier nun ein ganz neues Teil vorstellen, das gerade erst fertig geworden ist:

Yeah, I am back to the Me-Made-Mittwoch (Mittwoch is German for Wednesday) after a two-week pause! I actually still DID wear me-made things on the past Wednesdays, but I didn't get around to taking pictures or looking at everybody elses posts, so I figured there is no point in stressing about it.

But today I can present you a new piece which I just finished yesterday:

Das Besondere daran ist, dass man es mit Bändchen in den Seitennähten kürzer oder länger machen, und es so als Kleid oder T-Shirt tragen kann. Ich trage ganz gerne etwas engere Hosen mit einem langen Shirt drüber, das ist dann also diese halb-geraffte Version, die ich heute trage:

The special feature on this top is that you can make it longer or shorter with the strings on the side and either wear it as a shirt or as a dress. I like to wear tight pants with long shirts over it, so this is the "half-draped" version which I am wearing today:

Ich mag die Form der Neckholder-Shirts total gerne von vorne, aber von hinten machen sie meinen breiten Rücken noch breiter. Ausserdem stört mich nach einer Weile immer der Druck auf das Genick - darum habe ich mit einer Art Zwischenform experimentiert, die mich sehr überzeugt.
Nur leider, tja leider bin ich mit der Ausführung nicht ganz zufrieden.

I love the shape of neck-holder tops from the front, but from behind they make my  back look even wider than it already is. I also find that the pressure on my neck bothers me after a while. So I experimented with a "fake-neck-holder-shape" and came up with this, which I find quite convincing.

But unfortunately, I don't find my execution convincing at all...

Hier trage ich es in ganz kurz-geraffter Form, in Kombination mit meinem neuen Rock, zu dem ich übrigens letzte Woche ein ganzes Tutorial geschrieben habe - ihr könnt den Rock nachschneidern auf eure eigenen Masse... HIER. Über Feedback freue ich mich immer sehr!

Here you see me wearing it in a short version, combined with my new skirt, for which I posted a full tutorial last week. You can make this skirt using your own measurements... HERE. I always love feedback!

So, nun also zum leidigen Thema "Ausführung". Ich hatte mir eine Overlock Maschine gegönnt, da ich sehr gerne auch mal ein schnelles Jersey-Teil nähen würde... Und darum kaufte ich auch eine Menge toller Jersey-Stoffe. Nun habe ich aber tatsächlich dieses ganze Kleid mit der normalen Maschine genäht, einfach weil ich gar nicht recht weiss, wie ich die Overlock benützen sollte! An diesem Kleid ist keine einzige Naht "normal" - da in die Seiten-Nahtzugaben Bänder eingezogen werden mussten, da die Träger gleichzeitig als Schrägband funktionnieren, und überhaupt, wie macht man mit der Overlock einen gewöhnlichen T-Shirt Saum?? Also darum habe ich jetzt ein Buch bestellt, und hoffe in naher Zukunft meine tolle Maschine auch einzusetzen zu lernen. Ich werde dieses Top garantiert noch einmal nähen, weil es mir vom Prinzip, von der Idee und von der Form her wirklich gut gefällt. Drückt mir die Daumen!

All right then, let us talk about execution... I have bought an overlock machine which I generally LOVE, because I want to be able to make quick jersey-projects every once in a while. I bought a bunch of great jersey fabrics recently, too.... and then I made this whole top using the normal machine! Ugh! Just because I actually don't know how to use the serger. There is no "normal" seam on this top, because I needed the seam-allowances in the side seams for the "tunnels" for the strings, the straps are also used as bias-tape and anyway - how do you make a simple t-shirt hem with a serger??

So I finally ordered a book about how to use overlock machines, and I really hope to find out more about how to use this fabulous machine soon. I will definitely sew this top again, because I love the idea, shape and principle of it. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Und so trage ich es dann am Strand, der Sommer ist ja schon da, jetzt muss nur noch der Urlaub kommen! Übrigens findet gerade bei der wunderbaren Casey die Diskussion über "Overlock - Freund oder Feind" statt... Und auch hier, Male Pattern Boldness attackierte das Problem vor Kurzem.

Schönen Mittwoch Euch allen! Hier geht es zu Catherine, der Initiatorin des MMM (DANKE!), und hier sind die anderen Mittwoch-Outfits!

And this is how I will be wearing it at the beach. Summer is finally here, now I am waiting for a vacation! By the way, the discussion about "Overlock - friend or fiend" is also happening over at wonderful Caseys, HERE. And here, Male Pattern Boldness also tackled the subject recently.

Happy Wednesday everyone, and here is Catherine, who initiated the MMM (THANKS!), and here are the other Wednesday-Outfits!