My spring wardrobe is in need of a refresh, but I've been uninspired by my recent shoping trips and haven't found any tops that I like / fit me / are in my price range (I have expensive tastes but unfortunately not the budget to match!)
What I do have is a big pile of Mr M's old rejected shirts... solution: have a bash at a bit of refashioning!
That's the finished product, here's how I did it:
I had a trawl through Pinterest for design inspiration, and came up with an idea of what I wanted to do. I chose this shirt to be my first victim:
First, I tried it on for size (not very flattering!) - I wanted it gathered under the bust so I marked on the button placket where I wanted the line of gathering to be.
I laid the shirt out and drew a chalk line straight across from the line I had marked on the placket.
Then did the same on the back:
Next, I set my machine to a long stitch (4.0) and sewed two parallel lines of stitching, stopping at the sides (so the two front panels and the back panel can be gathered separately) - make sure you don't lock the stitches or you won't be able to gather them!
Pull the two back threads on each section so the fabric gathers - try it on and adjust the gathers until you get the perfect fit. Then pull the front threads through to the back and knot with the back threads to secure.
To hide the gathers, i sewed on some bias binding, secured with two parallel lines along the top and bottom to create a channel for a tie:
Then I threaded through some ribbon to finish it off:
Finally, I finished the sleeves by chopping them off just above the elbow, and turning them up a couple of times, then gave them a good press.
Voilà! Pretty pleased with the finish, especially as it cost me nothing and was done in an afternoon!
