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How to Transform a Men's Shirt to a Cute Summer ShirtDress

comments (4) August 2nd, 2009     

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carlyjcais carlyjcais, member
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Before - Mens L Dockers Shirt
After: Cute Summer Shirt Dress!
Close-Up of Ruffle Detail
Before - Mens L Dockers Shirt

Before - Men's L Dockers Shirt
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MAKE THE RUFFLES

 



Cut two pieces of fabric from your leftover shirt back. (Mine were 2 7/8"" wide by 20" long.) Sew a narrow hem on each ruffle edge, turn, then sew again to encase any raw edges.
Triple-knot a double-length of thread and hand-baste other side of each ruffle with 3/8" long stitches. Once done the length of each ruffle, pull on your thread to gather ruffle length attractively and match it to length of shirt front button placket you cut in the previous step. Pin ruffles to underside of placket (with about a 1/4" to 3/8" underlap), leaving 1/2" at top and bottom of placket sans ruffles. (Pins shown in diagram above in red.) Fold under bottom of placket. Place placket + ruffle decoration on top of bodice front. Repin same area to bodice front (going thru all 3 layers), centering placket on CF, removing earlier pins as you go. (Make sure that bottom of the placket stays folded under, matching fold to waist seam!!) Topstitch through all layers, vertically down each side of button placket - approximately 1/8" from edge.
Fold down top of button placket to wrong side of bodice front; topstitch horizontally at top edge to keep in place.

I also (since I'm completely anal) was irritated by the ruffle not sitting flat on the bodice - so I tacked the ruffle down in various places by just handstitching with one or two stitches here and there to the bodice.

I also made straps from extra fabric from the shirt (about 3/8" wide) that I tacked onto the inside of the bodice. They can tie around the neck halter-style, or can be tucked into the bodice when I just want to wear it like a tube dress. I put a snap on each end, and another 2 snaps on the inside of the bodice back - so the straps can also be snapped down and look like regular spaghetti straps.

Plus, I made some accessories from the leftover shirt fabric, but that's definitely, definitely another post! Hope you have as much fun making your dress as I did!

 

 

xoxox
Carly

read full post at http://chicsteals.blogspot.com/2009/08/dont-buy-diy-mens-shirt-to-cute-summer.html

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posted in: dress, shirt, refashion, remake, men's shirt, ruffle, striped
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Comments (4)

carlyjcais writes: DebraC: Thank you! Admittedly, the original idea of a ruffled-front shirt dress was actually from Urban Outfitters, but I had to figure out how to make it salvaging enough fabric and using as much as I could from a men's shirt. I even had a little fabric leftover to make some accessories too!

mapeggy: I wasn't aware of that! Unfortunately, Hub's shirt had fraying and dinginess on both inside and outside of the cuffs, so I don't think I could have salvaged this one to his satisfaction. Something to try next time I don't feel like making a whole dress out of the shirt!:-)

mcgurl2005: Thank you! I'd love to post a photo of the back (I had forgotten to - sorry!) but it will have to wait until I'm back at home with my computer and all my photos since I'm abroad right now. So sorry to not have shown the cool vest-like appearance to the back!

Thank you all for your comments! I hope you enjoyed the project1
xoxxo
Carly

http://chicsteals.blogspot.com
Posted: 2:36 am on August 20th
DebraC writes: I love this! Very cute and very clever :).
Posted: 10:36 pm on August 5th
mapeggy writes: I love what you did with the shirt. However, did you know cuffs and collars can be reversed. Before the "days of plenty", we always took off frayed cuffs and collars and sewed them back on by reversing them. Therefore, the fray was actually on the inside of the shirt and not seen from the outside. Because as you say, the rest of the shirt was in good condition. If you can make this spectacular dress from a shirt, then you will have no trouble reversing cuffs and the collar.
Posted: 5:38 pm on August 5th
mcgurl2005 writes: I love the pattern and the idea. I wish you had posted a photo of the back of the dress as well. Thans for the great project! :)
Posted: 4:53 pm on August 5th
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