Tutorial Tuesday

I made Molly a new summer shirt this week!

It was made from this shirt:

that my oldest daughter gave me to cut up. It was a more fitted style and I loved the subtle pattern of the white fabric and the pleats down the front! But there was a problem:

It had a hole in the front and a stain near one of the cuffs. (where did my daughter even get this shirt.....?) Anyway, it had great potential! :)

So, I cut off the top!

I left about 3/4 inch above what I wanted to be the top button so I would have room to sew that edge down. Next, I folded it in half and cut out the armholes:

I tried it on my daughter to decide how much to remove from the sides. I then trimmed equal amounts off both sides, keeping the same general shape:

Then I sewed and finished the side seams and removed the top button so it wouldn't be in the way!

Next, I serged all the top edges to finish them.

and ironed them down about 3/8 inch, being careful to leave room for the buttonhole!

(ewww... I need to clean my iron or something!)

A quick topstitch of all the top edges to finish them off:

Now it was time for finishing the armholes, sewing single fold bias tape to the right side of the armhole along the fold line,

ironing it to the inside,

then stitching it down!

Armholes finished! The body of the shirt all done:

Time to make straps! I decided I wanted to make straps with pleats to go with the style of the shirt. So I took the sleeves and cut 4 pieces of 7 1/2 inches by 3 inches:

Sewed them right sides together and turned them right side out. Freshly ironed:

Then, I pinned two pleats in each,

and sewed each pleat about two inches up and finished the edges with my serger:

Next, I attached them to the shirt. Last, I sewed the top button back on!

Modeling time! :)

Such a petite redhead!

(I'm not sure what she was talking about here!)

The back detail,

and here's her, "Mom, I'm freezing! Can we go back inside now??"

It will be perfect, when warmer weather shows up! :)