Nautical Inspired Dress Refashion

I love blue and white together...so clean, crisp, and nautical!  This latest dress refashion was from a woman's blouse and a man's shirt.  I opted for a scoop neck, short sleeves gathered into a band, and an empire waist.  The blouse top is lightweight cotton,  the shirt bottom is a heavier, soft velour-type fabric.  I added a pop of color with my large red bag, red earrings, and red heels.

The front.

The side.

The back.

A close-up of the dress.  

I left both pockets on the shirts.  Partly for design, and partly because I was too lazy to pick them off!  Plus, whenever you remove the pockets, you can always see where it has been stitched.  With a printed shirt, you can sometimes get away with it.  On a solid shirt, its pretty obvious.  I cut the blouse just below the bustline, adding extra length for ease and seam allowance.  I cut my sleeves, gathered them into the band, and attached them to the bodice.  I cut the skirt as long as I could from the shirt.  I then stitched the side seams of the skirt to fit my hips, and added two darts in the back to fit the curve of my back.  I gathered the bodice and attached it to the skirt.  Since I was working with a man's shirt and a woman's blouse, the buttons were opposite.  So, I had to switch the buttons on the blouse and add new buttonholes.  The scoop neck was finished with bias tape turned to the inside and topstitched.

One more overall view.

This is where it all began...two 99¢ shirts from the thrift store!

 Happy sewing!

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