The Refashioners 2013 – Elisalex of By Hand

The Refashioners 2013 – Elisalex of By Hand – London

Is it shameful to admit that I actually really liked the mystery item that Portia sent me to refashionâ€¦? I was even lacking a good denim shirt in my lifeâ€¦ But thatâ€™s not what this is about. Iâ€™m sure Portia didnâ€™t sign us up to The Refashioners just to send us thrifted freebies!

So, slightly reluctantly, I set about envisioning this shirt as something else. First thoughts were a button down mini skirt with a bandeau top made from a sleeve â€“ but seeing as the shirt already fit me perfectly, there wasnâ€™t going to be nowhere near enough fabric to fit around my backside, so that wasnâ€™t going to work at all. Â With a trip to the Deep South coming up, I eventually decided to use the denim combined with some white Broderie Anglaise cotton to make myself a dress worthy of the Grand Ole Opry (any old country lovers here? No? Hmmm just me thenâ€¦).Â

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Shamelessly I went for my own namesake pattern, the Elisalex Dress, and only just managed to squeeze out the front and back bodice pieces from the sleeves and back panel of the shirt.

The rest of the dress came together super easily and quickly â€“ Iâ€™ve made about a squillion of these babies by now so you know I can do that sh*t in my sleep! â€“ and I decided on a pretty gathered skirt as opposed to the main tulip variation. With some of the sleeveâ€™s leftovers I made a pair of little bows which I handstitched to the shoulders. I absolutely LOVE the resulting dress â€“ and itâ€™s right up my street with just the right amount vintage white trash country singer! Just need to get me some cowboy boots and a matching hatâ€¦

But what about the rest of the shirt, I hear you cry! Fear not ladies, Iâ€™m definitely not one to advocate waste of any kind so you can be sure that the rest of the shirt went to very good use.

Â I simply traced over the missing back panel and replaced it with the last of the white cotton Broderie, and hey presto! A sufficiently white trash sleeveless shirt â€“ not quite to my taste but immediately snapped up by our very own Victoria:

Â So there you have it folks, one denim shirt becomes one entirely new dress and one refashioned shirt (and just a tiny pile of scraps for the bin). Now all we need is a flight back to Nashvilleâ€¦ Anyone?

Â Portia, I canâ€™t even begin to thank you for inviting me to be a part of the second (and hopefully annual?!) Refashioners! I am beyond flattered that you thought of me and humbled to be among such prestigious company.

Elisalex of By Hand – London (and Stitch Me Softly)

Oh, my, bloomin’ word! Back of the net Elisalex! Denim and broderie…a classic combo AND two new garments from one teensy denim shirt! Actually I concur. The denim shirt was actually quite nice to start off with and I’d toyed with the idea if embellishing the front and back yokes myself. Which was another option. But my refashioning pile was large enough as it was and I knew this would be in good hands. Love the substitution of the tulip skirt of the Elisalex dress, with a simple gathered one. Totally changes the vibe of the original pattern. “Pieced” patterns like this, where the garment element (ie bodice in this case) is assembled from several smaller pattern pieces, are a great way to use small bits of fabric harvested from garments. Especially when you opt for the contrasting fabrics route as Elisalex has done here. Â And you needn’t run off and buy a length of fabric to emulate the skirt section in this refashion either. Bag yourself a denim shirt from the clothing rail of your local charity shop…..then go off and peruse the linens section for some pure cotton (vintage floral??) bedlinens/vintage tablecloths…