I won’t bore you with any more ranting of how brilliant this initiative is. I did enough of that here. But it is amazing. Just sayin.

When originally invited by Portia to take part in refashioning a men’s shirt I planned to make a button down skirt. However, the shirt I got in the post was in no way big enough to cover my backside, so, I went with a top instead.

Here is the shirt Portia sent me for the challenge. It’s actually a really nice Jack & Jones shirt – a Danish brand too which was a luurvly touch J (I am Swedish but live in Denmark at the moment).  

I have a feeling that my refashion might be one of the simpler ones this year. But I don’t mind! I REALLY needed a basic top, and this one has become a staple in my wardrobe already. So it’s been total success from my perspective. I decided to add the wow factor to the back of the top, by turning it back to front, adding a deep V neck whilst keeping the existing button band.

I also decided to make a few zipper pouches – but more on that below!

So how did I go about it? First of all I need to say that I only remembered to take photo’s of the refash process after finishing the neckline. But I think you’ll be able to see what I did anyway – it’s relatively simples.

First I cut off the collar and the sleeves, and created a V-neck by cutting from the neckline to a point on the button band. I made sure not to cut too close to the actual button to give room for seam allowance.

I tried on the shirt back to front to figure out what I needed to do to the (new) front. Because of the yoke there was WAY too much fullness (especially for my very petite ‘assets’). The simple solution for me to just cut away the yoke, create a more rounded neckline by cutting off a chunk and then re-attaching the back by sewing new shoulder seams. See pic below.

Doing this gave me quite a tight fit so I decided I didn’t need any darts to shape it. If you have a fuller bust, I’m not sure how easy my yoke-removing method will be – but I guess you can just make sure to start out with a shirt that’s quite large in size.

To make sure I got an even neckline and V-shape, I folded the t-shirt as you can see in the picture below (before finishing the neckline I might add) and trimmed it.

Next I just took in the sides a little bit. The shirt fit me pretty well straight out of the packet, so no need to do anything radical. The neckline was finished by simply folding it over twice and stitching it down. The armholes were finished with bias binding.

Finally, I replaced the brown wooden buttons with a few pink ones, and a gold one to go on top – all from my mum’s old button stash.

And here is the result! I’ve left the last button undone on purpose as it gives the top a bit more shape. Also, it won’t actually close over my bum….  

AND I also used the scrap to make a small wallet for myself, and a make-up bag. I combined the denim fabric with leather that I painted pink. The lining is a lovely flowery fabric that used to be a curtain in my childhood room. Refash all-round people.

The wallet I’m keeping, but the make-up bag will be included in one of the prize packages up for grabs in September!

I’ve written this post before seeing what anyone else has made and I’m SO PUMPED for all the “reveals”.

Ingrid x

ps: Macklemore & Ryan’s ‘Thrift shop’ randomly came on when writing this. That is f’ing awesome.

First of all thank you Ingrid for introducing me to a song about a thrift shop, lol! That will be making it’s way onto my Spotify sewing playlist ! I adore that deep v button back. So simple and so effective. Denim shirts are such a classic and refashions from denim shirts seem to look unfailingly cool. Case in point here, right? If it’s any consolation Ingrid…I had a similar “wouldn’t fasten over the butt” situation here. But in the best tradition of refashioning…an apparent obstacle becomes a feature. Because actually, it adds shape and interest and looks better that way than it would buttoned up!

You can find Ingrid here and here. And as she says, she’s adding that cute handmade make up bag to the prize package!!  Take a look at ALL the amazing prizes to be won as part of The Refashioners 2015 Community Challenge. So get involved for a chance to win!!! Grab a shirt and get refashioning! You have until Sunday 27th Sept to enter! Stay tuned for more inspiration throughout the WHOLE of August!