mens shirt refashion

Tropical Treasure Refashions-Part 2

April 13, 2014 By Mary Peterson 49 Comments

Hi Everyone!

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My search for tropical treasure continues… This men’s XXL Hawaiian shirt was a find for $2.50. Once again, I had the luck that it had never been worn as the tags were still attached. It is made of a beautiful rayon fabric with an awesome silky hand to it. I really loved the yellow accents on the print although they are hard to see on the pictures. Once I put on the shirt my project was clear. It had to be a kimono jacket!

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Before:

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After:

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This project was easy, fun, and dare I say it turned out very cute! I would highly recommend it for beginning sewers. I have paired it with a tank top and my white boyfriend jeans but it could easily be paired with Bermuda shorts or a pencil skirt and heels as well.

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Following is the tutorial:

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Step 1) Cut off the collar right at the stand. Don’t even bother to pick it off as cutting it right next to the seam will work fine.

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Step 2) Pin the plackets under to create a smooth line down the center front

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Step 3) Cut off the plackets and pick off the pocket from the front.

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Step 4) Pin wide bias tape around the placket and neck.

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Step 5) Sew down the bias tape on the first fold line.

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Step 6) Turn under the bias tape and stitch in the ditch.

Step 7) In the center back I took a 1 inch pleat on each side and held it down with a few buttons from the placket. This helped to cinch in the bulk in the back.

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I really love the way it turned out. This kimono will be a staple in my Spring and Summer wardrobe. What do you think? Do you want to try it? I would love to hear from you.

’til then…

Love Ya,

Mary

Men’s Stripe Shirt Refashion

August 20, 2013 By Mary Peterson 30 Comments

Hi Everyone!

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I have been waiting on this refashion for a while, since June to be exact. The reason is that I keep changing the length and the hem. This one is a perfect example of the fact that things do not always work out right the first time. I could kick myself because I did not save the pictures of the changes (that will never happen again), but take it from me, this one has “Gone through the wringer.” Here is how it started:

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I am finally happy with it now. Here it is:

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Now I will tell you what happened in between. My first version was knee length. Call me lazy but I wanted to keep the original hem. I wore it to work and by the end of the day, it looked like I had slept in it. It needed to be shorter so the fabric did not bunch up in my lap every time I sat down.

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After that, I made it shorter with a shirt tail hem. I wore it again, but it was still a rumpled mess by the end of the day. There would be no avoiding some wrinkles. The fabric is such that it needs to be ironed and starched. I decided to make slits on the sides. This was just what it needed to let the garment move with me and keep it from wrinkling so much.

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Here is the tutorial for the end result:

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1) Cut the sleeves off and make changes to the side seams.

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This always seems to be the first step.

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2) Overlock and 1/4″ topstitch the new armhole.

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3) Cut out the ruffles with pre-made pattern. Overlock the edges.

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4) Turn under the edges of the ruffle and topstitch. Pin down the ruffles on the side of the top placket and topstitch down.

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5) I wanted to add a feature to the back so I made a line of stitching across the center and pulled to make even gathers on the center back.

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6) I removed the cuff from the sleeve and picked off the topstitching.

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7) Place the cuff over the center of the topstitch line and pin down.

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8) Topstitch around the cuff over the original topstitch lines.

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9) Add matching buttons (from the other cuff) on the opposite side.

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10) Create a shirt tail hem with side slits.

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Here are close-ups of the design features on the form.

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Whew! This one was a hard fought battle but I did it! I still need more practice with ruffles but not bad for my first time in years. What do you think??

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‘Til next time…

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Love y’all!

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Mary

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Hawaiian Shirt Refashion

July 6, 2013 By Mary Peterson 13 Comments

Hello Everyone,

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Refashion Runway is over and I had a ton of fun doing it. Thank you to everyone who voted, subscribed, and cheered me on. I met so many wonderful new friends. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to watch Season 2 unfold!

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Here is my latest endeavour. I found this men’s Hawaiian shirt at the “American Way Thrift Store” and fell in love with the print and the colors.

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I love the way the armholes and hemline have totally feminized this once boxy man’s shirt. I always need pretty tops for summer and this will now be a staple for my summer wardrobe. Here I have paired it with black shorts, but it would also go well with denim jeans or even white pants.

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FOLLOW THIS TUTORIAL:

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1) Cut of the sleeves. Turn inside out and make fit changes to the side seams.

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2) Reshape the armhole and sew with 1/4″ topstitch. You can’t see it here but I had to make some darts to keep the armhole from gaping.

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3) Then I changed the hem to the high low style that is popular at the moment. I did this all very quickly within 1 day. Once you have a lot of practice refashioning for yourself you will become very familiar with the shape of you body and how to alter garments to fit. If you are a beginner it takes a lot of practice fitting and refitting. Don’t give up though. It does get easier and it is so rewarding.