Friday, March 26, 2010

Goodwill Hunting

Thrift shopping, take two.


Well, I hit a second thrift shop--and it was SOOOO much better than last time. Larger, everything laid out in rows, clearly marked items--many of them brand new--arranged by COLOR! And the prices were much closer to what I had in mind the first time around! All in all, it was a much, much better experience--except for the fact that Little Bear badly needed a nap and cut short my shopping by having a melt down!


I did come away with a small bag of goodies though. The one thing I grabbed that I'm going to work with first--this men's button down shirt.

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I love the Hawaiian print. I had just read Lil Blue Boo's Vintage Travel Patches dress tutorial, and I think that's the frame of mind I was in!

I've been dying to try turning a men's shirt into a girl's dress. Its been all over the internet, but I'm pretty sure it originated here at Made by Dana.
Actually, I'm thinking of renaming my blog--"Made...More Complicated", since apparently I enjoy taking her cute refashioning ideas and waaaay over-complicating them.


Anyway, here's basically what I did:


Cut off the sleeves, the collar, and the inside of the pocket (I just sewed the opening shut, which I regret. The pocket ended up being in a cute spot, and I should have left it alone)

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Then I cut off the sleeves, cut them open along the seam, and trimmed a bit off the side. I kept most of the width, because I had a plan in mind.

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 I gathered the sleeves to the center, and then resewed them back on the body of the shirt/dress. I hemmed them, and ran one stitch around the edge with elastic thread in the bobbin.


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Next I sewed elastic around the neckline, stretching it as I went, so it gathered the neck. (I cut the elastic to match about how big around I wanted the neck to be)

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I took a piece I had cut from the side, made some bias tape, and sewed it around the neckline encasing the elastic (careful not to stretch the elastic)***

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I loaded the elastic thread back in the bobbin, and did eleven even rows of stitching across the bodice front, with navy thread on the front (from about an inch under the collar to the bottom of the sleeves) (I also gave up on pictures at this point, because I wanted to get done!!)

I made simple tubes out of more scraps, pinned them to the sides for ties, and sewed up the sides, adding a tag. And finally, I hemmed it.

And here's what we ended up with:

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Pretty cute, I think! (the dress isn't bad, either, hehehe)

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Perfect for hanging out in the warm spring sun...

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Examining newly painted toes (a red dress simply demands red toes)

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***So here, at the very bottom, in small print, is where I make this admission: the was supposed to be for TinyTim. Yup, I fought this stupid shirt dress, adjusted, measured, cut, made the armholes too small. But the final nail in the coffin was when I sewed the bias tape around the neckline...and it didn't even come close to fitting over TinyTim's head. (like Sputnik). Aren't I fortunate to have daughters in such a range of sizes? A simple hem, and voila! Dress for BabyBear. And act like you meant to do it that way...yeah, yeah, that's the ticket..I MEANT to do it....

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10 comments:

  1. You are SOOO creative! I really wish I could do stuff like that! You have inspired me to make another go of the goodwill!

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  2. Hey there...my mom showed me your page and told me to send you my email and you could send me some more pics. I'm guessing your mom talked to you about my wedding? so I guess when I comment this you'll get my email address? Well if not I guess i'll figure something out. Bye!---Carly

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  3. Very creative! I love it!!! Your daughter is adorable.

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  4. So cute and amazingly creative! I never would have thought to turn a men's shirt into a little dress. What a cute little girl as well.

    Stopping by from SITS.

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  5. I love the transformation!!! What an awesome idea!! Great job! Thanks for linking up at my link party. I'll be featuring this at one of my favs.

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  6. that is sooooo cute! thanks for sharing, I'll have to do this sometime!

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  7. That turned out so cute good job!

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  8. I think you turned your thrift store find into something pretty terrific!

    Thanks for linking up to Sugar and Spice.

    Kim

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  9. Hi I would love to make this however I'm confused on how u did the sleeves. Can you give a step by step (written.. not pics) of what to do after cutting of the sleeves? What size shirt did u use and what it a long sleeve or short

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  10. Can u email me at jerryandtabatha@Gmail.com the step-by-step of the sleeves from the point of cutting them off? I'm a beginner and a little confused on what u did. Also was it a long sleeve shirt and what size? Thanks!
    on

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drop me a line. please? don't make me beg...it's not pretty.

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