Monday, June 23, 2014

Sunday Sew-Day: Send in the Clowns

Sorry for the delay. Rain and/or cloud cover the past couple days has made it difficult to get good photos of this weekend's project. I eventually gave up and took pics inside sans natural light. On the bright side, I got a new gadget - a remote control for my camera! I'm terribly excited about it.

I picked up this blouse at Buffalo Exchange recently, at the same time as last week's thrift score. It was also $4 on the clearance rack.

Circus Blouse Refashion - BeforeCircus Blouse Refashion - Before

As disturbing as I find clowns to be, I was strangely drawn to this print with its creepy clowns, juggling ballerinas, unicycling jesters, and prancing ponies.

Circus Blouse Refashion - Before

Originally, I planned to just remove the sleeves and call it a day, but Fate, knowing that simple sleeve removal makes for boring blog fodder, decided to throw me a curve ball. When I got the blouse home, washed it, and hung it up to dry, I noticed a couple stains.

Circus Blouse Refashion - Before

Since I knew the sleeves had to go, off they went!

Circus Blouse Refashion- In Progress

Then I grabbed a scrap of cream-colored lace salvaged from an old bra. My plan was to create lace cutouts one the yoke and removed the stained portion, but once I cut off the sleeves and realized how easily the fabric frays, I decided to keep the stained fabric underneath - it's not like you'll notice the stains through the lace anyway. I pinned the lace panels in place along the shoulder, collar, buttonband, and armhole.

Circus Blouse Refashion- In Progress

Then I trimmed the excess lace, folded under the top and bottom edges (as seen on the right-hand side), and sewed them down as close to the folds as possible.

Circus Blouse Refashion- In Progress

I used my trusty seam ripper to undo the collar stitching.

Circus Blouse Refashion- In Progress

Then I stuck the lace in there and re-stitched the collar, as well as stitching down the scalloped edge of the lace near the buttonband.

Circus Blouse Refashion- In Progress

To finish it off, I did a basic two-fold hem on the armholes.

Circus Blouse Refashion- In Progress

And voila - no more sleeves!

Circus Blouse Refashion- After

No more stains!

Circus Blouse Refashion- After

I've styled it with a black pencil skirt (refashioned) and wide black belt (thrifted), as well as my Calvin Klein nude and black wedges (DSW clearance).

Circus Blouse Refashion- AfterCircus Blouse Refashion- AfterCircus Blouse Refashion- After

Hey, look! A remote!

Circus Blouse Refashion- AfterCircus Blouse Refashion- AfterCircus Blouse Refashion- After

Perhaps I should have paired my new clown shirt with my clown skirt from a few months ago?

Circus Blouse Refashion- AfterCircus Blouse Refashion- AfterCircus Blouse Refashion- After



Circus Blouse Refashion - Before & After

9 comments:

  1. Hi Carissa!
    I LOVE the pattern! So cute! Great refashion, with the lace! And now you have a good outfit for job, that is not too serious! Great outfit!
    Kisses from Portugal!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Helena! That's one of the things I love about it as well - that it looks nice and professional, until you get up close. :)

      Delete
  2. P.S.:
    errata: for work (ando not for job)...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, your English is much better than my Portuguese!

      Delete
  3. Morning, Carissa -------- The lace detailing is perfect to give this blouse that "perk" to be noticed. Your work is so fine that it appears that you could have opened the shoulder seam and slipped in the lace panel. It is not only about the "eye" for fashion, but more about the technique that makes presentation a true success !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I guess my OCD comes in handy sometimes!

      Delete
  4. Another winner! Great way to hide flaws. I need to figure out something similar for small holes in the back of some T-shirts. Our cat went through a stage of jumping on our (vertical, not bending over) backs. He didn't put his claws in us, just in our shirts. It might be a lost cause, but I'll do some more thinking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've seen a lot of Anthropologie knock-off tutorials on Pinterest - like this one. I'm not sure about mixing the stripes and floral, but maybe a solid colored tee with a print back would be cute.

      Delete
    2. Oh, yes, another good idea - thank you! This is opening up the possibilities.

      Delete