Creative Dressmaking At Home

This restyle is from an old men's dress shirt that was made into a women's boat neck top. I used the pattern New Look #6808, some ready made bias binding, and of course, the all important men's dress shirt.

The pattern has front and back darts, plus a zipper in the side. The top is put on over the head. It also has a straight hem.

I started by cutting off the collar and cuffs. I then cut the side seam from the bottom up to the arm and back down the sleeve. 

Now, I sort of pick and choose where the pattern pieces fit and what elements from the original shirt I want to save. In this case, I wanted to preserve the shirt tail. I wanted to use the buttons and buttonholes to run down the back of the top instead of putting in a zipper.

Next, the yoke was cut off the back of the shirt and the pleat released. 

The front pieces were then laid on. I made sure the shirt tail would "meet up" on the side seams. 

Then, I folded the "fabric" in half so that there was a fold to place the front pattern piece on. 

The sleeves were cut out of the old sleeves. Because the sleeves were cut one layer at a time, I had to make sure I was cutting a left and a right. Very important!

I sewed the bust darts from the pattern and turned the front and back darts into small pleats that cinch in the waist. Then, I finished the neck and sleeve edges with the bias binding ( I used a similar finish on an earlier refashion project).   

 To see another refashion of a men's dress shirt click here.