What did you think of the pictures? Oh, that’s right – I never posted them. Behind again – how surprising.

Anyway, I call success on this project anyway.

My mission to turn the husband’s cigarette burned shirt into a cute dress has been (more or less) successfully completed. I was inspired by a number of other sewer’s projects to try doing something with an otherwise unwearable garment (the shirt would have just gone in the rag bag). It’s my first try at something like this and I think I’d rate it a “Hey, not bad!”

It was fairly simple to do; I spent a few hours just basting it here and there to see what would and wouldn’t work. Then once I’d figured out the best (i.e., easiest) way to get the fit I wanted, I took out the basting and did it.

This is what I started with:

And this is the result (please pardon my poor photography – I don’t know what my problem is this morning):

(If I remember to get a picture when I wear it out, I’ll replace these – yeesh …)

There is an issue with the fit across the chest that needs to be resolved – the button just below the bust is being pulled a little and I should probably let it out just a smidge on the side when I have a chance.

I left the original shirttail hem for a couple reasons – one, I like that you can tell it used to be a man’s shirt; and two, I hate hemming.

It’s a top rather than the dress I’d planned on; it’s a little too short for someone approaching 30 to wear as a dress (right?), even if I had added some buttonholes to make it fasten all the way to the bottom of the button placket. I’m sporting a classy pair of paint-stained sweat pants with it in the pictures, but I’m thinking jeans or some casual pants will do.

I reused the sleeves for the straps, and cut the collar in half to use for a little fun. I thought about reusing the breast pocket, but I didn’t like the way it looked in the places I tried it, so I let it go.

I’m really pretty happy with it.