Men's Shirt Refashion: The Candy Striper

Another lazy Monday inside. I spent my morning asleep, my afternoon in my pajamas cleaning and lazing, and my evening altering a shirt and watching Doris Day in "Pajama Games"... while STILL in my pajamas. 

I used some elements of my last alteration project on this shirt. But it's a very different final product. Somewhat more girly, lace will do that. I never was much of a girly girl growing up. I hated the color pink until my mid-teens. Now, I'd consider myself a fairly feminine gal- at least in my dress. I wear a lot of skirts and I tend to "dress up" more often than the average person.

• As in the last shirt project, I started with cutting off the sleeves just along the seam. 
• I sewed up the front of the shirt ala the other shirt as well. (I have found I really like the look of the open holes and the unused buttons. It's a quirky detail. This also allows for a looser fit and makes the shirt easier to slip over the head.)

• I took in the arm holes to fit me. For me, this was about 1.5 in into the arm seam then tapered out. A lot of my alterations are made by making slight changes and then trying the shirt on again. This works well and assures a good final fit. (This picture was of my original step. I ended up straightening out the seam to eliminate buckling, but you can get the idea of this step from the picture, at least.)

• Cut out the neck how you like, of course. This might be nice with a V-neck or a square neck. I like big open necks. I used my trusty hatbox as a tool to mark the cut lines. (I ended up deepening the scoop after these initial pictures. Now, I wonder if I should have. I may need to wear a tank under it if I wear it to work.)

• I gave the back of the neck a little scoop to make the neck look more finished. 

• Put in some side slits. Mine were 5 in and hit somewhere near my hip just above the widest point. 

• Hem over the edges of the slits, the neck and the sleeves.
• Tack on some lace around the neck. I doubled the lace in the front scoop to give a little more coverage. The back of the neck has only one layer of lace trim.

•  The final step was to create a belt so that the shirt had a more fitted look even though it is comfy and loose. I used fabric from one of the sleeves to make a tube of fabric to be the belt. (I used this awesome pinterest tip to turn my tubes right side out. Holy moly this made it sooo easy. Usually I hate this step.) Had I thought my shirt out ahead of time, I would have sewn the belt into the side seams. Instead, I made a little slit and sewed it in just behind.

  
This shirt has a dressy look to it, with a little extra girly frill. But it's also a simple and functional top for hot weather days like today. I also like the candy striper look. It's kinda like a dress-up costume, except I can wear it whenever.