Sunday Sew-Day: Too Much of a Good Thing

I love pink. I love polka dots. I love a bargain. And at $1.50, this pink polka dotted shirt was definitely a bargain. It fit great too, but whether I rolled up the sleeves or left them down, I just wasn't loving this top.

It felt a little overwhelming. I decided all it really needed was to be a little less. Less pink. Fewer polka dots.

Removing those sleeves should tip the scales back to the perfect amount of pink polka dots.

After trying it on sans sleeves, I trimmed a bit more so the shoulders wouldn't be too wide. Luckily, this top already had bust darts, so there was no unfortunate armhole gaping to fix.

I cut off the cuffs and the little straps that keep the sleeves rolled up. I also salvaged all the buttons (and noticed one was missing from one of the cuffs - possibly the reason the previous owner donated it). One sleeve was cut into bias strips.. The other went into the scrap pile for later use who-knows-when.

I joined all the strips end-to-end.

Then pressed the seams and trimmed the corner bits.

I attached the strips to one armhole, right sides facing.

Then I folded the fabric under twice, making a facing on the inside, rather than a binding that would be visible from the outside.

I gave the facings a good press, and that was that!

A little less pink...

A few fewer polka dots...

And now it's just right!