• About
    • Contact
    • Press
    • Sponsor
  • DIY
    • Home & Garden
    • Jewellery & Accessories
    • Yarn Crafts
  • Sewing
    • patternless & self drafted
    • Refashions
    • Commercial Patterns
    • Sewing Tips
    • Overlockers
  • The Refashioners

makery

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, the refashioners, the refashioners 2015, Thrifting, Tutorials

The Refashioners 2015 – Sasha

26th August 2015

Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

For me “refashion” does not simply mean recovering the fabric from a garment and making  another garment but also recombining the existing elements to give new life and meaning to an old garment. I’ve always been quite attracted by the styles merging the very masculine with the very feminine so the idea of taking a men’s dress shirt and mixing it with the feminine shape of the victorian underbust corset, as my first refashion was very exciting to me.Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

 

The road was not without bumps. I had no clear view of how to go about it and spells of “I don’t have enough fabric” anxiety.  So here it is: my first refashion and I’m very pleased with the result. I anticipate I’ll be wearing this a lot.

Process outline:

The original shirt – a men’s size 42 dress shirt in cotton twill.Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Take off the collar unit and the cuffs and form a neck dart.

Mirror everything from one side to another ( I used tailors wax tracing paper and a tracing wheel to do so).Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Blend the neckline and trim the excess.

Measure and cut along a line under the bust leaving intact the button placket and including seam allowances.Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Pin, measure and cut the sleeves and sides to create a sloping/drop shoulder short sleeve which also has the effect of reducing the overall fullness of the shirt.

Pin a couple of pleats in the sleeve, make a slit and attach the cuffs. Depending on the original shirt size they are potentially going to be smaller than your bicep circumference. I ended up by creating an extension tab with two buttons to close the gap.Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Measure the neckline opening, shorten the original collar stand accordingly and use it to create a mandarin collar.

Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Gather the excess fabric under bust and at the back

Drape a form fitting midsection from a large strip of fabric. Be sure to cut based on the abdomen circ + ease + sa. I mistakenly did not and ended up having to insert some triangles at the sides.Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

I pinned also a couple of darts to help shaping the back. I considered doing so for the front also but in the end I decided against it as I prefer it more relaxed. With the remaining fabric from the body and the sleeves create a long strip (under bust circ. + hips circ. times three)…Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

…and create 1″ pleats. I used some light fusible interfacing to help hold the pleats because my fabric was too soft and drapey.

Attach a row of pleats and the original shirt tails&hem (reduced in size to fit the waist piece) to the bottom of the waist piece.Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Attach the waist piece to the upper bodice sandwiching in between another row of pleats.Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Attach the waist piece to the button placket. Trim the button placket and close the hem! Done!Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015Sasha - Fruits Flowers and Clouds - The Refashioners 2015

Thank you again to Portia for inviting me. When she asked me to join the stellar cast of this year’s Refashioners I must admit I felt a bit scared.  Honored but scared. First I never did a refashion before and second have you seen the heavy talent she enrolled!!!

Talent that includes you Sasha! Wow! Hard to believe Sasha’s never refashioned before. But this is exactly why I’ll often approach sewers who don’t refashion to be part of the blogger challenge. You just get a fresher take on things that way. One of the biggest aims of The Refashioners is to show refashioning in a different light. That as well as it’s eco credentials,  it can be creative, edgy, modern, individual and uber cool. Think I just aptly described Sasha’s refashion there don’t you? Job done then!

You can find Sasha here and here. We are almost at the end of a month of  refashion inspiration and ideas!  Next week sees the community challenge element gather pace and don’t forget 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! 

Related

33 Comments

  1. Claire says

    26th August 2015 at 7:39 am

    lovely idea. It is such a flattering refashion.

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 11:57 am

      Thank you Claire !

      Reply
  2. Marilla walker says

    26th August 2015 at 7:43 am

    Fantastic, unique, amazing…should I go on? Love it sasha, you have such an amazing sense of style! X

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 11:57 am

      Thank you Marilla coming from an artist like yourself means a lot! x

      Reply
  3. Helen S says

    26th August 2015 at 8:07 am

    This is a really top class refashion. You started with a bog standard plain men’s shirt and made it feminine and special. Keeping the continuity of the button placket and adding the pleats is particularly effective. Step forward a new refashioning superstar.

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:00 pm

      awww I don’t know about refashioning superstar Helen … I think I will stick to creating “from scratch” for the moment 🙂 xo

      Reply
  4. Annika says

    26th August 2015 at 8:15 am

    Oh Sasha, my friend. You are simply incredible. That refashion turned out soooo good! Wow. You certainly look like a model. Bellissima!

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:01 pm

      and you my friend are too kind 🙂 :-*

      Reply
  5. Deb Cameron says

    26th August 2015 at 8:18 am

    I love love love this!!

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:01 pm

      Thanks Deb!

      Reply
  6. Jane says

    26th August 2015 at 8:27 am

    Mornings will be a lot less exciting when we no longer have these amazing Refashions to look forward to each day! I think Sasha’s might just be my favourite. It is brilliant.

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:03 pm

      Thank you so much Jane! and yeah it has been a great series – Portia did an amazing job … I can’t wait to see her refashion tomorrow!

      Reply
      • portia says

        27th August 2015 at 7:04 pm

        Erm….in the interests of managing expectations Sasha….it’s not as intricate as your masterpiece, lol!

        Reply
  7. Kate Carvalho says

    26th August 2015 at 8:37 am

    Taking refashioning to the next level!!!

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:04 pm

      Thank you Kate !

      Reply
  8. sonja says

    26th August 2015 at 9:58 am

    This looks amazing. Love this!!! Unique, stylish, one of a kind.

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:04 pm

      thank you so much Sonja !

      Reply
  9. Linda L says

    26th August 2015 at 11:01 am

    Great looking refashioned blouse!! Thanks for the step by step how to.

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:05 pm

      Thank you for stopping by 🙂 !

      Reply
  10. michele says

    26th August 2015 at 11:11 am

    this is my favourite refashion so far. very clever and very beautiful. outstanding work sasha!

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:06 pm

      Thank you Michele I’m really glad you like it!

      Reply
  11. Patti says

    26th August 2015 at 12:39 pm

    WOW! This is an eye-popping refashion – so beautiful and classic – it looks like something for which you would pay $$$$$. I can see you wearing this for years!!

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:07 pm

      I think I will Patti … it does feel very high street 🙂

      Reply
  12. Hélène says

    26th August 2015 at 1:55 pm

    What an amazing refashion! I particularily love what you did with the sleeves. And the whole result is so soft and feminine. Great job!

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:11 pm

      I was not so sure about the sleeves as I was cutting, there was a bit of a bet involved there … but as it turns out it paid off … they work!

      Reply
  13. Karen says

    26th August 2015 at 11:48 pm

    Beautiful refashion!

    Reply
    • Sasha says

      27th August 2015 at 12:11 pm

      Thank you Karen!

      Reply
  14. Anne says

    28th August 2015 at 1:53 pm

    Wow!! I love this!! I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for this afternoon that links to your tutorial: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=84186 –Anne

    Reply
  15. Margo says

    28th August 2015 at 3:28 pm

    Your refashion is stunning! One of the best I have seen. Well done!!!

    Reply
  16. FreeUrCloset says

    28th August 2015 at 8:19 pm

    Amazing idea! I simply love the feminine touch you created with the pleating. I will give this a try when I have sewing time 🙂
    xo Natasha

    Reply
  17. Nicoletta says

    30th August 2015 at 12:52 pm

    Sasha, it’s amazing!!!! I would buy it, like right now! You did a great job, honey!!! My compliments again!!!!

    Reply
  18. Kat @ House of Lane says

    3rd September 2015 at 2:36 am

    OMG this is awesome!!! Sasha you are one very clever lady.

    Reply
  19. Sew2pro says

    8th September 2015 at 1:27 pm

    A beautiful shirt which would perfectly complement an hourglass figure. And hardly a trace of masculinity of the old and plain shirt.

    Thanks for the detailed instructions.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Portia
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Follow
Sewbox

© Copyright 2021. makery. All Rights Reserved. Managed by WordPress Web Dev Cornwall .