This one's for Amy. Amy Karol, of Angry Chicken, is a re-fashioning goddess. Weekly, it seems, she's taken some ho-hum article of clothing and made it sha-zam. This post is a recent example. Wow, right?So, Amy's the angry chicken, a brave woman with a pair of dressmaker's shears. Me? I'm chickenshit, too timid to ever ever just boldly CUT into a perfectly good shirt. What if I mess it up, royally? How will I live with knowing that I've taken something and wasted it through my own stupidity? It's always seemed more than I can bear. That is, until today.
This shirt was one I thrifted, for $1.50, sometime over the summer. It was, er, a little big, but I liked the fabric, so I brought it home and threw it on the Clothes Heap in my studio, to wait for the day when I could screw up the guts to tackle it.
It's a scary process, man.
Eeek!After taking in the neckline incrementally, and doing much sipping of tea and fretting and pacing, I decided what this thing really needed was an empire waist.
Empire waists? Big fan. I'm at total peace with my upper body: arms, shoulders, back, boobs, all satisfactory and presentable. The marsupial pouch? Hmmm, not so much, that one.
It's sorta hard to tell in this picture, but the shirt ended up getting a myriad of tucks and gathers (three in front and two big ones in back), an empire waist, pleats under the boobs, and ties in the back.So, first re-fashion project completed, check! Baby steps. Maybe someday I'll be like Amy and wear my shears in a holster on my hip, ready to unleash creative goodness at any minute... well, it's good to have heroes, isn't it?
I'll close with a gratuitous shot of my (satisfactory) boobs. The pleats and the empire waist are way easier to see in this one.Bonus points for the first one to spot the cat in this post.
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5 comments:
Wicked cute and I adore the pattern...and you!
I'm laughing over here and scaring my dog!
I completely hear you with the re-fashioning, it is so hard to make that first cut.
You did a great job and you're right, the fabric is awesome and so worth re-doing.
As for the being at peace with the top and bottom but not so much the middle..ditto!
Thanks for the encouragements! Since this morning I've pulled another half-dozen articles of clothing out of The Heap and onto the work table... what else will I dream up? Who knows.
Lovely shirt!!!! I love, by the way, the "gratuitous shot of your (satisfactory) boobs"- you made me giggle. Is the cat in the corner of the mirror?
Thanks Karli! The cat's not in the mirror, though. That would be way too sneaky.
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