Get the perfect fit.

I bought a shirt last weekend at the thrift store for $2.50, as mentioned here. I was looking for a sheer feminine blouse, which I found but it was too big. I bought it anyway, because I knew that I could make it work with some simple sewing. I wanted to share this idea, because it is a really simple way of making a shirt that is too big smaller and it makes a garment have more of a custom boutique look to it. I have also done this on men's shirts to make them into a woman's shirt. If you have lost weight this is also a great way to salvage a favorite shirt that is now to big! Here are my directions:

1, With anything you are recreating & redesigning, look for something that has a fabric or print that you like and a good frame.

2. Identify the areas that need resizing. Is it the shoulders, the sides, the bust? In my case all of the above applied to this shirt! I needed to take about an inch out of the shoulders, sides, and the darts needed to be extended in the bust so it wouldn't look like it started at my waist!

3. I took in the sides starting at the armpit, folded it over to where I needed it brought into and pinned it down all of the way to the bottom hem.

4. I sewed both sides and cut off the excess fabric, so it wouldn't be seen through the sheer fabric and so that it wouldn't look bulky. Make sure you try it on before you cut it off, because it is easier to pull seams then to sew back on the fabric!

5. I extended the darts in the bust and the back about an inch and a half to meet my bra line. This was pretty easy, because all you have to do is follow the darts already sewn. If there are no darts that makes things a little more complicated. It you haven't sewn darts before I would not suggest adding them onto a shirt without them. But if you do want to try, let me know and I will try to help you!

6. This is where the fun part begins! I liked the top bib part, but it was too big in the shoulders and needed taking in. I made two even pleats on each shoulder to take the extra inch off. I ran a zig-zag stitch (any stitch would be fine) across the fabric, pleating it a little to hide the extra fabric. I continued this down the bib about 6 or 7 times. It is really up to you how many you would like to do. Be creative! Then I turned the shirt to the side and ran the stitches the up and down to make a quilting pattern. You could go with out this part, but I thought it would look better on this particular shirt. Cut off all of the threads and you are done with this part...(click on picture for a closer look).

7. On my shirt there were two other things I did to it. There was a bow tie at the collar I didn't like, so I cut them off and sewed the excess inside the collar. I also added another button to the top to at the bib, because I thought it would look better and help to finish it off.

I love to sew shirts like this, because it doesn't have to be perfect, in fact it looks better to me if it is not perfect. It is so simple, fun, and a great project to try out a new or dusty sewing machine.
Let me know your thoughts or show me your creations! OK? Get to it!