Refashioning Men's Shirt

Week One of the Sewing Bee has passed and I'm so excited to move on to the next round! Only 56 out of 142 entries made it. For the second challenge we are required to create an adult garment out of a woven men's shirt. Embellishments and lining do not necessarily have to come from the shirt.

So I hit the thrift shop and came home with these two shirts that were in great condition.

Gap shirt in size 15-1/2

Ralph Lauren in size 17-1/2

I toyed with the idea of cutting strips from the shirts and piecing them to make one whole fabric from which I would cut my pattern. But I thought that would totally obliterate any trace of the original garments and it would be no different than just using a store-bought fabric. I wanted to make something totally wearable that would still show hints of the shirts. So I ended drafting my favorite Butterick pattern 5450 to make a dress. I know it's not a showstopper but I hope it's creative enough to let me advance to the third round.

Curious to find out more about the construction? Read on...

The bodice front was cut from the Ralph Lauren shirt. 

However it was not enough so I had to improvise and use the Gap sleeve for the center front pleat.

The two shirt fronts were used for the dress back. I omitted the side zipper closure asked for in the pattern.

From the Gap shirt, I cut the skirt part of the dress and several bias strips to make the piping which I used to embellish the neckline and armholes.

Finally, I used the remaining leftovers to make a strip-pieced belt. I used the collar of the RL shirt as the framework of the tie belt. 

I'm quite happy with this entry. No matter what happens, I'll end up with a perfectly wearable dress. This is the first time I have tried refashioning an RTW and after my fruitful visit to the resale store, it certainly won't be my last!