Shirt Too Big? Not A Problem!

I just love long shirts. And one problem I'm having lately is finding shirts long enough.  Most of the ones I find are usually short and I have to keep pulling them down as to not show skin.  I think I've finally found a solution to this problem!

I'm just gonna buy shirts way to big on me and alter them everywhere, but the length.  It's alot easier to do than I thought! 

While I was out of town this Christmas, I made a stop at an out-of-town Goodwill.

I loved it! That place was huge, the prices were great, and the merchandise was really nice.  I wanted to get some sweaters to refashion, and since I wasn't familiar with the layout of this particular Goodwill, I started out looking at the Plus size rack by accident.  That's when I spotted this beauty.  It's gold with sparkly thread going through it.  It was also 5 sizes too big.  But I wasn't gonna let that be a problem. 

Before I get started, I would like to point out that in the before picture (with shoulder pads), this shirt totally looks like something Blanche Devereaux from the Golden Girls or Charlene Frazier from Designing Women would wear.

This is what I did....

First, I cut off the shoulder pads.

Next, I carefully cut off the sleeves along the seams.

armhole without the sleeve

sleeves

I tried on the sweater inside out and pinned the shirt closer to my body starting at the armpit (which is gonna be huge because the shirt was 5 sizes too big). 

Next, I tried on one of the sleeves (inside out) and pinned the fabric to make it fit tighter on my arm.  Then I did the same thing with the other sleeve.

I put the sweater in the sewing machine and sewed along the line of pins.

This is what the seams should look like now.

At this point, I turned the shirt right side out and tried it on to make sure I took in the fabric enough.

Next, I turned the shirt inside out again, and pinned the sleeves (also inside out) to the shirt. I started pinning at the top at the shoulder seam and pinned until the pieces on both sides of the shoulder seam met at the armpit seam.  If there is excess fabric (and there probably will be), it's ok. You'll just trim that off later after you sew the sleeve to the shirt.



Then I put it in the machine and sewed along the pin line.



Once I did that on both sides,

 I tried on the shirt right side out just to make sure everything looked right.

And it did!

 YAY! =) 

 I wore this shirt on New Years Eve. And it was super comfy and pretty!

 ***If you have some time, swing by my Zibbet shop and take a look around!***

www.therufflybuffalo.com

 

Thanks! =D