Mar 10, 2013

Polo, anyone?


This latest refashion began life as an 4XL tall men's polo shirt.  I was drawn to the color, stripes, $2 price tag, and most importantly...amount of fabric to work with!  I cut off the collar and sleeves, then placed it on my dress form backwards.  I didn't want it to necessarily look like a reformed polo shirt, so I placed the button placket in the back.  I switched out the buttons for two black ones found in my stash.


I pinned the sides to the right width and trimmed away the excess.  There was so much fabric left from the sides that, after cutting apart the original side seam stitching,  I was able to make four strips with vertical stripes (two for the front and two for the back.)  Before sewing up the side seams, I made two horizontal cuts along the bottom of the shirt front and back (one at about 5" from the bottom hem, and another at about 8").  I retained the original hem of the shirt for my new dress.  I then inset my vertical-striped strips, along with some black knit piping in the front and back of the dress.   Next, I cut a long strip of black knit and inset it into the side seams.  This served two purposes, one to give the dress more interest, and two, I didn't have to be so precise when matching the front and back stripes and piping!  I finished it off with some black ribbing around the neck and arms. 


After it was finished, I felt the armholes were bigger than I wanted, so a made a little pleat at the top of each sleeve and hand stitched it into place.


It was a windy day for taking pictures, but check out the great leather coat I snagged for $2.00 at a local thrift shop!


Because of the stretch knit, this dress is super comfortable!  At $2.00, it was also very affordable!  I think my favorite part, though, is that the two vertical striped insets disguises the fact that I was trying to lengthen a t-shirt into a dress.  It feels like it was designed that way!

I like to link to these great parties!

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28 comments:

  1. Very clever and effective, adding the black knit at the side seams. Another awesome refashion, Susan and only $2. Great job getting the leather coat for $2 as well.

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    1. The black knit down the side was an afterthought. I stitched the first side seam and didn't like the way things were matching up...or not matching up! So the black strip of fabric solved the problem!

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  2. Incredible improvement and you can't beat the price! Thanks for linking to the Craftastic Monday party at Sew Can Do:)

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  3. holy cow! that's just tooo awesome! so creative!

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  4. This is gorgeous! I can't believe how wonderful it turned out!

    www.domesticblisssquared.com

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  5. This is great. I found you from Threading My Way. I love it when things can be refashioned. This is beautiful. See my post:
    http://www.thelostapron.com/2013/03/easter-dress.html

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    1. Thanks! Your daughter did a great job on her yellow dress...quite the seamstress! Good luck on your entry into the competition!

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  6. Wow! That's amazing! I'd love for you to come link up to our party http://www.cutesycrafts.com/2013/03/an-oldie-but-goodie-9.html - Jessica

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    1. Thanks! And, thanks for the invite...I linked up and added your button to my party page!

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  7. It's turned out great, you would never think it started off as a man's polo shirt!

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  8. Love this one Sue! Did you photoshop yourself in front of the old yellow building or is that here in town? Looks like you are in Europe somewhere. Did you go on a vacation that I don't know about? lol

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    1. No exotic European vacation ( I wish!) just the old, run-down mill behind the bus station. Speaking of vacations, how was yours? Fun, I'll bet!

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  9. you did a great job on this and so clever to tun it around to avoid the polo shirt look!

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  10. Awesome refashion! You did such a great job. I agree, the vertical stripes is what completes the dress; making it look more finished. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Newest follower here! I found you through the blog hop. You have a super cute blog, I can't wait to read more. You can find me at meandmr.com

    -Melanie @meandmr.com

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  12. Amazing project! Thanks for sharing it at the oldie's party--you were featured! www.dosmallthingswithlove.com

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  13. Looks fantastic! That's the second project I've seen today that's mixed horizontal and vertical stripes - totally loving it!

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  14. I love this refashion. Thanks for sharing it on the Refashion Co-op. Would be cool to see the polo before !

    Eddie

    Eddie's Room on Facebook come over for some crafty ideas and conversation. :-)

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  15. This is awesome!!! I am definitely keeping my eyes open now for xxxl polos!!!

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  16. Truly one of the best recycled article of clothing I have ever seen. Thanks for a beautiful design.

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  17. Truly one of the best recycled article of clothing I have ever seen. Thanks for a beautiful design.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate the feedback and always look forward to reading what you have to say! Susan