Summer of Skirts - Men's Dress Shirt Refashion Tutorial

I've been noticing that there are a lot of skirts right now that look like they were made from button down shirts, and it gave me an idea. I had a skirt from my grandpa that was a really nice light cotton, and I thought it'd be perfect for a skirt! Here's some of the pictures that inspired me - and might give you some ideas!

I decided to keep my buttons in the back though - although the skirt could pretty much go either way! There was a placket that went over the buttons on this shirt, so the buttons wouldn't be exposed anyway. This tutorial is going to be really simple, because it is pretty much the same thing as the red bow skirt.

What you need:

- A men's dress shirt (or a woman's - it depends on how big or how long you want your skirt to be)

-Interfacing for the waistband

Step one: Cut the collar and sleeves off of the shirt. Decide how long you want your skirt to be, and trim the shirt down from the top (so you can keep the hem on the bottom of the shirt). Trim the sides so they smoothly go up to the top in one line.

Step Two: Follow steps here to complete the rest of the skirt, but omit the zipper.

There are three options for this skirt: Have the tie and buttons in the back, like I did, have the tie and buttons in front, or have the buttons in front and the tie in back. If you do this last option, you'll need to add a zipper - the buttons are what allow you to put the skirt on and off without a zipper!

So go hit the thrift store and find some awesome men's shirts, and if you make one I'd love it if you send me the picture or link! If I get pictures I'll post them with a link back to you :)

Also - my camera died and I lost the charger, so I'm borrowing my roommates camera which I obviously don't know how to use... I don't know why my background is in focus and I'm not! So sorry about the blown out pictures.

Grandpa's Shirt refashion - Tank top dress (tutorial!!) & GIVEAWAY??

I knew I had to wear one specific shirt of my grandpa's in Hawaii. It's very tropical and he wore it there often. However, I have very pale skin and orange tends to totally suck the life out of me. So, I didn't want to make a shirt or anything that would be close to my face with this particular hue!! I wore it as a bathing suit coverup (hence the black underneath!), so I didn't get the best pictures. But oh well.
After thinking on it a while, I decided that maybe pairing it with white would result in something wearable - and it was! Not only that, but I found the easiest, best way to make a quick dress on the cheap!
I am so, SO excited about this dress because of the potential it holds. As soon as I've recovered enough to start sewing, I think I'm going to make about 10 million more of these dresses. And, to share the love, I'll be posting a tutorial of the very next one I make! I promise, you'll absolutely love the easiness and comfort of it! So check back soon!


ALSO - I'm thinking about making one of these as my very first giveaway!! I've always wanted to do one, but since I don't have an incredible amount of time for blogging I never got around to it. If I can get enough people interested in it, I'll do it! Comment if you'd be interetested in entering! :)

Grandpas Shirts - Refashion # 3 - Another dress!

This dress is technically still in progress. I'm not too happy with how it is right now; it's a little shapeless (it looks better in the pictures than in real life, I think..). I'm thinking of maybe tightening the skirt a little bit - making it more pencil skirt-ish to give it some shape.

Basically, all I did with this dress is cut the top part of the shirt and the sleeves off so I had a long tube, just like with the blue dress. I sewed the sides up, made armhole shapes, and then pleated the top. You can't see it very well, but the neckline is 3 big pleats that are are also pleated at the waistline.

I ran some elastic through the waist , then created a 'sash' out of the leftover material.
I have super narrow shoulders, so this bar across the back became a necessity after adding the straps...
I liked the buttons in the back for this one!

Grandpas Shirts - Refashion # 2 - dress!

My grandparents own a timeshare in Hawaii, and every couple years we go with them. My grandpa had numerous 'tropical' shirts that he'd wear to Hawaii, so I'm going to be making shirts and dresses out of those to bring this year as a tribute to him.

This is by far my favorite refashion so far. I kind of made it up as I went along, and if I could do it over again there are somethings I would do differently! But overall I like it a lot. The color is bold and beautiful, and I just lOVE the big graphic chrysanthemum type flowers on it!

I started taking pictures as I went with this, but then my camera died and I lost my charger. So no pictures along the way :(. I'll try to describe what I did though!

First, I removed the sleeves and the very top of the shirt (mainly the collar), so I had a tube with some armholes cut in it. I straighted the edges out (trimming where the armholes end, if that makes sense) so I had two trapezoidal shapes. I used these for the skirt.

Then, I cut the bodice part out of the sleeves. This is where I really wish I had my pictures, as it's hard to explain! Basically though, the shape I cut out was about the same as what it looks like, only a little bigger. I gathered down the middle of the bodice, and then here's my favorite part - BUILT IN BRA! I always save old crappy bras for projects like this. I cut the bra apart so I just had two attached cups, then hand-sewed it into the front of my bodice. I then sewed a cotton lining over the top of it. Next, I smocked the whole darn thing from the bra all the way around the back, and even a couple rows on the very top of the bra (which give it that ruffled look).

I attached the top to the skirt and did some more smocking around the bottom of the bodice because it was a little too maternity-ish for my taste.

Finally, I added two straps of just plain white elastic. And they tuck down easily if I want to go strapless. I know this is a pretty crappy tutorial - let me know if you have any questions or comments :)

Grandpas Shirts - Refashion #1 continued

So, I FINALLY have some pictures to put up of some refashions I've done! I have several completed ones that I'll be posting when I have time, so keep checking back.

Here's a couple more pictures of the last one I posted forever ago, belted with jeans version!

Grandpas Shirts - Refashion # 1 !

So, I did this refashion super fast the night before my grandfather's funeral, because I wanted to wear it to the service! Therefore, I don't have any in progress pictures, but I pretty much followed my button up ruffle shirttutorial for it. I didn't add the smocking around the waist however, and I didn't shorten it - didn't have time to hem! I also wound up with the neckline a little too wide, so I added some pleats in the back along the shoulders to take it in a little. So I wound up with a very blousy, long, tunic-like shirt. I wore it with a pencil skirt for the service:

I also love wearing it with skinny jeans, boots, and a wide black belt - it's really comfortable and chic! I don't have any pictures of it like that yet, but I'll put some up.