successful refashion! man's shirt to a woman's top

Well hello there! Sorry about only revealing the lower bit of my face - have had a shocking haircut, and am hardly ready to face the supermarket, let alone the world wide web ;)

There's been some sewing going on here, brought on by our recent hot weather.  In a moment of desparation I found myself an old shirt of Mr Pickles' (in the charity bag). Grabbed an old favourite dress and two and a half hours later, voila! A new top.
Firstly credit where credit is due. I spotted these images on pinterest and have been thinking about making something similar ever since....

So here is my first bash a sewing tut! I think now I could knock one of these tops together in very little time, given that most of my two and a half hours was spent scrunching up my face, tilting my head, wondering if this was actually going to work out...

But before we begin, some warnings...

1. I am a super-beginner sewer
2. I have no sense of what may be considered "right" or "wrong" in terms of terminology, techniques, etc
3. I failed Textiles and Design at school, two years in a row. My teacher, Mrs Button (her real name), was very concerned that I was not going to find myself a good husband.

So, here we go ;)

Step 1.
Find yourself a men's business shirt that is too big. Lay it flat on the floor, facing up.



Step 2.
Get a favourite, non-stretch dress, with a shape you like. Lay this on top of the shirt and use as a pattern template - don't forget your seam allowances! Cut the sleeves to the length you would like.

Step 3.
Create the neckline of your top. I look terrible in collars, so removed the collar altogether and cut the front and back pieces to the neckline shape I wanted.



Step 4.
I did a tiny rolled hem/seam (sorry! don't know the right terms) on the neckline, and sewed up the front  centre join up to the second button - I still needed to unbutton the top button to slip the top over my head.








Step 5.
Try on for size. Stitch up the side seams, making any adjustments before you go to the next step. I did the same rolled seam/hem thingy on the short capped sleeves. I found this a bit fiddly and tricky - there is probably a much better way to do this.

Step 6.
Now you can have a look at the shirt length. Mine was too long for a top and too short for a dress. So I chopped it. But I still wanted the rounded bottom, like you get in mens shirts. So I used the shirt's original bottom to take the curve and then transferred this curved line higher up the shirt. And then I trimmed the excess and created another rolled hem along the bottom.






Step 7.
Next stop, show and tell to someone who'll listen, followed by a walk out and about to show off your talents! Oh, and of course, a celebratory Tim Tam.
Will try to get hubby to take a glam shot of me later in the week, wearing the shirt in question. Perhaps pre-drool/snot, play, rolling in the grass etc, unlike in the first shot in this post!

Chat soon lovelies
xo