How To Re-shape A Cute Summer Top

Hey! Thanks for stopping by to read this. I got that shirt on the left for free. I probably would have paid for it. I tend to buy clothing that looks great on skinny people without thinking it might not look the same on me. However, this time, I lucked into a free shirt. I decided it might look good without that awful elastic faux drawstring waistline. I don't understand why designers don't get this...women with bigger waistlines do not like clothing that cuts into or sticks to their stomachs. Seriously. And please, for the love, nothing that "blouses"! That's not a good look either. Take a look at that before and after pic above...I weigh the same in BOTH pictures. They were taken the same day. I look thinner and more "put together" in that second picture. (Or at least I think so.)

So for this tutorial, I'm gonna show you how to re-shape a top with 4 super easy changes.

To start, I grabbed my handy dandy seam ripper to take out the stitches of the elastic casing.

Once I got all the stitches out, it looked like this:

No worries, those wrinkles will come out with an iron.

I cut the sleeves off next. I like to cut the sleeves right before the armhole seam. (This makes it easier to sew the raw edge up.) With the shirt inside out, I rolled the raw edge over once and pinned.

Then I sewed down the raw edges of the armholes.

With the shirt turned inside out, it was time to 'fit' the top. Starting at the armpit, I pinned the shirt down the sides. I like for my shirts to flare a little towards the bottom so the shirts aren't clingy.

I ran the shirt through the sewing machine along the pins.

I tried on the shirt. When I had it the way I wanted, I turned the shirt inside out and trimmed the excess fabric.

I wanted this shirt to have a little something extra. So I grabbed an old white t-shirt and cut a wide strip. I folded it in half.

Then I put a gathering stitch in the wide white strip to make a ruffle.

Next, I pinned that white ruffle along the neckline.

This is how the ruffle looked after it was sewn in.

Annnnd, this is the final result. I love it!

Thanks for reading! 

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A Pretty Shirt Refashion

 Man, I have been super sporadic with my tutorials lately.

 I finished my spring semester in May and my kids will be done with school tomorrow! (Yay! No more alarm clocks to set or lunches to pack until August! WOOHOO!) 

I'm hoping to do a lot more tutorials this summer. Fingers crossed! =)

But for now, here's how I made this shirt....

  

Ugh. For realsies, I should never wear shirts that have no shape ever again. And note to self, get a hairstyle. yikes! lol 

Anywho, onto the clothing...

I was gifted 2 big bags of clothes from a friend of a friend. They were too big, but only by one size. Even though most of the shirts were in great condition, they were shorter than I prefer. Also, most of the shirts looked like the red shirt on the left. Whomever (did I use that right?) owned these shirts before me either really loved the style or they got a seriously great deal. I have a ton of these shirts now.  

 I love the red, but it needed updated and shaped. So I searched through the bag and found that middle shirt. I love the pattern, but a shirt in my size should never ever ever ever (did I mention never ever?) have that as an all over pattern. Geesh. I knew the pattern would look perfect as an accent. 

So here's the tutorial: 

This is an up close shot of the shirts. See that crocheted part on the neckline of the red shirt?

 I started with that.

I couldn't grab my seam ripper fast enough. I got rid of the crocheted panels on the shirt. 

Btw, this is one of my favorite parts of a refashion...the demolition. =) 

I had to use my scissors on some of the crochet part, some of it was super stubborn.

The picture below is what the shirt looked like at this point.  

Next to go were the sleeves. (I need some tank tops for the summer.)

Instead of using the seam ripper here, I just went straight for the scissors. I cut off the sleeves right before the shoulder seam.

With the shirt turned inside out, I folded the raw edges over twice and pinned them down. 

Then I sewed the seam of the arm holes.

For this next part (with the shirt turned inside out), I tried on the shirt and pinned under the armpit then I pinned the shirt down the sides. I didn't want it to be tight, so I flared my pins out towards the bottom. 

 After I was sure I had it pinned just the way I wanted, I sewed along the pins. Once I finished sewing the shirt, I trimmed the excess fabric from the sides.

 Back to the neckline. I wanted to add the patterned material as a trim and then add a modesty panel to the neckline.

I cut a long strip of fabric from the patterned shirt. Mine was 2 inches in width. 

 This next step, I used this tutorial I found at Craftsy.com. It's an awesome tutorial on how to make a V-neck. I modified it slightly to only use the front part of the neckline and not all the way around.

The picture below is what the v-neck looks like from the inside of the shirt.

 The picture below is what the v-neck looks like on the outside of the shirt.

 To make the modesty panel, I cut a piece of fabric from the patterned shirt. I took the easy road and found a piece of the neckline from that shirt that already had a finished edge.

The next step was to pin the modesty panel to the v-neck.

(this is the view from the outside of the shirt)

 I sewed it and trimmed all of that excess fabric off. 

To make the trim at the bottom of the shirt, I cut off the original bottom of the patterned shirt. (Again, I saved myself a step by not having to hem the trim.) I don't remember the exact width of the patterned strip, but it was really just a preference on how long I wanted the shirt to be. If I had to guess, I would say it was probably 4 inches. 

I pinned the strip up under the shirt and sewed it to the shirt. Once, I was finished, I trimmed the excess patterned fabric.

And this was the final result! I love this shirt. I think it's flattering on me now. Or at least it's way more flattering than it was in the beginning. =)  

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Thanks!