Hi Everyone!
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How do you know what to do with a garment when you choose it? I get this question quite often. The answer is, I usually don’t know! When I go to the thrift store, I am just looking for something “Interesting.” Sometimes I am drawn to the fabric, shape, or have a vague feeling of what I can do with a garment. Once I get home, I put my treasures on and off the form, pin and play with them. If I am “not feeling it,” I will put the garment away until I get inspired. Then suddenly, I will see a picture or get a flash of an idea, and that is the garment I will pull out and start with. Even then, I often have to put it on the dress form, pin and play with it for days until I formulate a plan of attack in my head. I never cut into a garment until I have worked out the entire process in my head. As a result, I often have several projects going simultaneously as I work out how to refashion them.
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Here is the tutorial:
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1) I found this little beauty at Goodwill with the tags still on it. It was a size large and had absolutely no shape. The print was denim friendly (always a plus), and there were beautiful pintucks on the front bodice. Because it is summer the long elastic cuff sleeves had to go!
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2) In this picture I have picked off the sleeves at the armhole seams, taken in the side seams, and created two back darts for shape. Because of the print it is hard to see the changes in the photo.
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3) I wanted to add contrasting rib to the sleeves to bring out the chartruese color in the print. I used this old t-shirt from my stash (never throw your old ones away). When I cut off the hems at the stitching line, it created a perfectly-sized ribbing for the armholes.
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4a) Pin the binding in place and overlock sew in place. My overlock machine was the best investment I made in my sewing aside from my dress form. It transformed my finishing and made the sewing process much faster and cleaner.
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4b) Here is a look at the finished sleeves.
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