Men's Polo To Woman's Bow Shirt Refashion

I had a goal this week to make myself a new shirt.  Sweet Success. I tried something a little different this time.  I forced myself to be patient and take my time.  I unpicked instead of just cut and actually thought through things this time.  Here is what I came up with.

Woman's Bow Shirt Refashion Tutorial

I started with an XL polo shirt.  I got it for free from my dad.  He never wore it. Tags still attached. Cool.

I started off by unpicking the collar. I wanted to use the collar later for the bow so I was careful to keep it intact.

 Then I carefully cut off the sleeves.  I  put the shirt on inside out and pinned it to take it in.

Using an existing shirt, I made a template for my new sleeve.  I cut my new sleeves out of the old sleeves using the original hem.

I pinned the new sleeves in and sewed them in leaving a small space at where the seam of the shirt bodice meets the sleeve.

Then I sewed the sleeves shut starting from the hem of the sleeve and sewing all the way down to the part that I took in of the bodice.  Hope that makes sense.

Now for the bow.  I was originally going to use just the collar but I didn't want the bow to be too thin.  I salvaged some fabric that was left over from the sleeves.  I cut them to make them straight instead of curved and sewed them together.

I unpicked the sides of the collar and pinned each side to a side of the sleeve remnant. One end of the strips I angled and the other I tapered on both sides so that it would fit inside the new collar. I sewed them, right sides together and then flipped them right side out. I didn't sew the tapered end shut.

I pinned the collar back together.

Inserted the tapered ends of the strips into the ends of the collar.

Using a zipper foot, I sewed the bow strips in and sewed around the collar.

My patience was rewarded!

Linking to: 

http://brandyscrafts.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/ 
http://alliemakes.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://naptimecrafters.blogspot.com/
http://designergarden.blogspot.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/
http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/
http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/ 
http://todayscreativeblog.net/ 
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/ 
http://www.alittletipsy.com/ 
http://www.soyouthinkyourecrafty.com/