Sunday Sew-Day: Damaged and Drab

Not every refashion has to be a mammoth undertaking. Sometimes a little sewing goes a long way. For instance, it only took me about an hour this weekend to transform this paint-splattered blouse and this nighty-ish dress into much more wearable pieces.

The instant I saw those navy and white polka dots at the most recent clothes swap, I knew they had to be mine. The instant I saw the paint splotch on the belly, I knew I had to save this shirt from someone else's garbage bin.

The first thing I did was cut off those puffy cuffs and re-hem the sleeves.

Then I turned each cuff inside-out and sewed across the bottom. Once it was turned right-side-out again, the raw edges were hidden.

Lastly, I attached the cuffs to the belly of the shirt as brand new pockets - one over the paint spot and the other symmetrically on the other side.

This breezy shirt is super comfy, and I just know it's going to get a lot of use this summer.

The plaid shirt-dress came from a clothes swap a couple years ago and has been hanging in my closet since. It had belt loops (but no belt), so I'm pretty sure it was meant to be a dress, but every time I looked at, I saw a night gown. Step one was to cut a new curved shirt hem. I folded it in half from front to back to make sure my curves were symmetric. Then I used my seam ripper to remove those belt loops.

I reattached the laundering tag higher up in the side seam. Then I pressed the bottom edge upward and sewed my new hem. (How awesome are those black pearl snaps?)

As soon as the rain stops for more than 30 minutes, and the mud puddles have a chance to dry out, I am so gonna wear this with my cowboy boots.

See? With just a little creativity and a little time, these two shirts get to see daylight again!