Man's Shirt Make Over

Hello everyone,
Have you ever given something a try not really expecting it to work out? I have, and usually I was right :)
This time however, it did! Well enough for me to actually wear lol. But when you don't expect something to work you don't usually take pictures of the process... Or at least, I don't :)
There are some more thrifted shirts in my closet in dire need of pimping, so for any future projects I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures :)

Front

Back

New buttons, the top part of the collar removed
and 6 pintucks on either side of the front

5 larger pintucks in the back

The cuff was made smaller, the pleat and
extra fabric gathered for a poofier look :)

In case you've seen the sewing patterns I posted (here and here) you may be wondering why I don't start from scratch with my own clothes?
The reason is I can't get a pattern to look right on me to save my life. So now you know... :)

Free Skirt with Overlap Sewing Pattern

It looks odd because it's
a quarter scale model
(and that's the story I'm
sticking to...)

The second sewing pattern, which, again, took way longer than it should have...
I thought this was going to be easy, I mean, it's a skirt, how hard can it be? But then I decided I wanted it fully lined, oh, and with as little hand-sewing as possible, and, hmm, those seams really need to be pressed open to prevent excessive bulk, but that flap makes that rather tricky...
So it took some doing, but I think I managed to meet all my criteria (whether it meets YOURS is most likely a whole nother story...).


You can find all the details (size, length, etc.) in the sewing instructions,there is also a pattern layout page for all sizes, and of course the PDF patterns.
The size range is limited to the four "most common", but I'd be more than happy to make "uncommon" sizes, if that's what most of you are interested in :) 
So if that's the case, please let me know in the comments. The same applies to questions, suggestions, problems with either the patterns or the sewing, or whatever else you would like to share, so don't be shy ;)

Fully lined

Again a big thank you to Kathleen Fasanella of Fashion Incubator, for her wonderful centered zip method. If you find video easier to understand than pictures, you may be interested in FD 50 - Basic Apparel Construction Lesson 5 - Basic Seams and Zippers Part 3 by West Valley College.
Since the video is over an hour long I'll give you the time frames that show how to attach the facing to the zip:

• 19:10 start
• 22:10 sewing facing to zip
• 24:15 folding zipper coil inside and sewing waist (25:55 folding other zipper coil)
• 28:50 end

If you have some time to spare I highly recommend watching all their sewing videos, they have four playlists related to sewing. 
I just love watching people sew without pins :)

Skirt with overlap, front and back

 Please click the "Read more" link for the PDF patterns and the sewing instructions.

Sewing: Adding a Patch Pocket to the Top Pattern

Top with patch pocket

Another variation for the free top pattern, a patch pocket this time. Probably not very compatible with the previous variation, but then again perhaps it is? :)

The pocket has a self facing and a lining and is attached to the garment with topstitching.

Please click the "Read more" link for the pattern pieces, sewing instructions and some stitch examples.

For larger pictures, please click any image

Sewing: Adding a Pleat to the Top Pattern

If you've visited this blog before, you  may have noticed I like "variations on a theme". I'm even worse when it comes to sewing patterns, but unfortunately there's only so much you can cram into a single pattern...

Enter: pattern adaptations!!! :)

I'm also working on a new sewing pattern (a skirt!), so if your lucky this may be the only adaptation I'll be posting, but I'm not making any promises...

The top with a box pleat and with an inverted pleat 

If you haven't already: print out the free top sewing pattern.

This added pleat doesn't require any drafting experience, it's nothing more than a strip of paper, in this case 7cm wide and the height of the bottom part of the top pattern. And since a box pleat and an inverted pleat are basically the same thing (different sides of the same pleat) you get two for the price of one ;)

Pattern with strip of paper to create a pleat

Free Top Sewing Pattern, Long Overdue...

My totally unflattering
drawing of this top

First up, a big thank you to Kathleen Fasanella, of Fashion Incubator, for kindly allowing me to use her wonderful centered zip method in the sewing instructions.
A big thank you also to the ladies of Crafterhours, for their lovely all-in-one facings tutorial.

This has taken me much, much longer than I anticipated, but better late than never I guess...
The pattern is available in 4 sizes: 36, 38, 40 and 42. Apparently sizes aren't as standardised as I thought, so it was really difficult to find what the UK and US sizes are for these, but here are the bust measurements I used:

• size 36: 84cm + 6cm ease = 90cm    (33.07 + 2.4 = 35.47 inches)
• size 38: 88cm + 6cm ease = 94cm    (34.65 + 2.4 = 37.05 inches)
• size 40: 92cm + 6cm ease = 98cm    (36.22 + 2.4 = 38.62 inches)
• size 42: 96cm + 6cm ease = 102cm  (37.8   + 2.4 = 40.2   inches)

The top measures roughly 25cm (9.8 inches) from the waist down.

The pattern uses seam allowances that are in centimetres, but the pattern has a printable sewing machine gauge that can be attached to your throat plate. I hope that will help :)

Back and front of the top

The first thing (and probably not the last...) I have to apologise for is the use of notch markings (or lack there of). I had a hard time figuring out what the proper placement would be, so I placed lines on each and every corner and sticky-out bit. 

I have made an example of where I think they might go, but be careful and use it at your own risk... ;)

The red lines indicate where I think the snip marks might go

Please click the "read more" link to... erm, well, read more...