07 Sep 2012 4 Comments

Liberty Refashions: Man Shirt to Retro Blouse

So. Autumn is here and what a better time to go through your closet, see what you like and what you’re not wearing anymore and more importantly – what you could give a new life to.  And if your old clothes don’t inspire you anymore trade with a friend. They don’t have to be the same size or even gender as you. You just have to get your hands on garments that will allow you to play a bit.

Some fabric scraps, a few pieces of trim and new buttons can sometimes change a garment completely.

With a little help from Sew Box and a bit of Liberty print Bias Binding and buttons, I turned a plain man’s shirt into a quirky blouse.

You don’t need a lot of time for this refashion, just a bit of courage. First, chop of the collar.

Then the sleeves.

At first I wanted to use the front of the shirt as the back of my new blouse, but since I used a shirt that was already my size at the bust area and I didn’t have a lot of fabric to play with, I decided to keep the front as it was – I later changed the buttons.

I draftet new arm openings.

And a new cleavage.

I used this liberty print bias tape for the cleavage, which was soft and a pleasure to work with.

I then hemmed the arm openings

and created pockets.

The best way to get functional pockets is to make sure your hands fit in them. I created a pocket shape from scrap cardboard and then applied them to the garment.

This is how it fits.

Hope you like my Rosie the Riveter inspired blouse and this refashion.

Have a nice weekend and happy sewing!

by sky in misc