Men’s Shirt Refashon 1: Summertime Dress (Part One – The Dress)

raw materials #2

the inspiration

I was digging through a bag of clothes my mom wanted to take out to donate a couple of months ago and came across a silk dress shirt of an unflattering size and style for me.  The fabric was so gorgeous I shoved it straight into my “do something with later” pile and started Googling for ideas.  

I came across this super cute refashioning that I instantly wanted to try.  (Visit her etsy shop here.) I couldn’t just try it straightaway on the silk shirt, so I had to stop off at Goodwill and pick up a few men’s shirts to practice on.  The idea had been to just make a simple, practice neckline.  From there it turned into a dress, with a photo shoot, and a matching parasol.  Well…I guess I don’t do simple very well!

I started with an XL men’s dress shirt and combined it with this dress I never wear.  It’s super cute, but the material is thin.  A slip might have solved the problem, but I cut it up so that also solved that problem.  It took me a few weeks to make this since I had to figure out what I was going to do as I went along.  I didn’t really have a plan aside from working on that neckline, so there was a lot of cutting apart of what I had sewn to rework it. 

I don’t feel comfortable offering a tutorial on how I did end up putting together the top as the original idea belongs to someone else who sells it.  However, I will say that it wasn’t too bad to reverse engineer it for anyone else who thought that it was a great way to re-imagine a shirt! 

Here’s what I ended up with, front and back view.  The checked pattern of the cloth really suggested an innocent sundress, it’s very Dorothy inspired as well.  I later on added on the yellow underlayer because just the shirt alone as a dress still looked like…I’m wearing a men’s shirt and nothing else.  I ended up shirring (and here is a great tutorial on how to do that!) a large section of the back as a cheater method of making it fit.  I’d sewn darts along the back but I suck at making it super tailored.  The shirring ended up being so cute as a panel (and it REALLY did the trick on making it more form-fitting) that I will have to make another dress with it on purpose. 

I can't wait for the weather to be actually WARM so I can wear this dress.  Stay tuned for taking the dress out of this yucky looking field and into a pretty one for the photo shoot segment!

Welcome to the Girl Corner, home of crafting

kitty is essential

The other day I was out at a friend's and the subject of man-caves came up.  The importance of, joys of, man-cave envy - although there was no discussion of what actually goes on in one in my hearing.  I wonder, what's the lady equivalent?  Have we really come so far in society that we ladies no longer have a sewing room? 

The funny thing is, I would LOVE a sewing room.  So would a number of other girls I know, since the making of crafts really takes a lot of space!  Truly, if I ever had the space I would need the I Make Stuff and Paint Stuff Room.  For now, I've taken over a Girl Corner of my brother's old room temporarily for my crafting projects and it's got the basic necessities; table, Hello Kitty 3/4 size sewing machine + cat.  I have to give this corner back in a few weeks, but for now, I've been busily using it.  When I have a permanent corner, rest assured it will be much more girly.  The post to reveal just WHAT I've been making will have to wait until the rain lets up for a bit and it stops being so cold! 

I desperately had to cheer myself up a little bit last night though, I've been feeling very very blah from a lot of different things.  I made a quickie headband decoration to wear today, I just tacked on one of the chiffon flowers from a previous project to a thrift store headband (Daiso for the win!!!)  I'm wearing it with that same cardigan today AND with my hair curled in an attempt to seduce the universe into thinking it should hurry up and be spring.  If sunshine started pouring down on me and flowers bloomed beneath my feet and maybe the world started serenading me in joy, that would be ok too.

Combating Mental Drool

I find a most disturbing trend where my brain, being very very full these days, has decided to deal with overstuffed-ness by grinding to a squishy near-halt.  I commented yesterday that it's the equivalent to your mouth hanging open slightly and drool coming out, except mentally; not sleepy, but mentally tired from a lot of things just on my mind.  I think it's not uncommon a reaction of the human mind; too much ot think about it? Fine, I just won't think about anything at all!

It's a nasty mental drool spiral; the less able I am to deal with things, the less brain i have to think about them as they pile up!  I was trying (squish squish, goes the brain) to think of a way to get out of the slump when my friend Astrid came up with what I think will be a great solution.

"Doris...you need to come up with a reward system."

SELF-BRIBERY!!  Is this the key?  (Also, brilliant.  It works for kids.  Will it work for a big kid?)  So that very evening I ran out to Daiso to get a little whiteboard so I could combine a reward system with one of my favorite things, lists!  Different prizes of various denominations matched with tasks that seem daunting right now.  I don't get prizes for normal work things, just for things that weigh upon my mind that I really should get that done, you know.  It's hanging right by my work desk as a visual reminder.  I'll let you know if it works!