{"id":11101655,"date":"2024-02-03T01:07:19","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T19:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/?p=11101655"},"modified":"2024-08-08T18:36:21","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T13:06:21","slug":"what-you-can-do-with-an-old-dress-shirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/what-you-can-do-with-an-old-dress-shirt\/","title":{"rendered":"Repurposing a dress shirt – 6 ways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was a little confused by the terms like upcycling, repurposing, recycling. When I looked it up, it seems that upcycling is all about taking an old piece and turning it into something new and equally or more valuable. It keeps the original item’s spirit but changes its use or look, where as recycling is breaking down the old clothing into its base form and then using it to make something else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dress shirt, a common item in a lot of our wardrobes, presents lots of possibilities for  upcycling as well as recycling, once it’s past its prime : you’ve outgrown it, you’ve changed your style, or it’s simply worn out. Let me share what I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related post: Recycle old clothes into new ones<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn the shirt into a tunic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tunic is a top that extends to the hips or beyond. Transforming a shirt into a tunic adds a unique and charming touch to a simple top. You can either repurpose an existing top or create a new one from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Choose a shirt that fits your bust line or just under it. Mens shirts are wider across the shoulders and narrower across the waist. This may be a problem for a lot of us who have more weight along the belly. If the shirt is big it ensures that the tunic will drape nicely from the broadest part of your body, avoiding any tightness or discomfort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A larger shirt allows for a looser, more relaxed tunic. But not too wide that you have to unpick and re-sew the side seams. (You can always add small darts to reduce the width)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take your measurement and mark your bodice pattern. Check out the tutorial to draft pattern for a bodice top here<\/a>. Cut out the bodice to be of length a little under the bust level – do not forget to leave 1\/2 inch seam allowance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"bodice\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"cut<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cut the shirt at the joint of the armhole, straight across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"cut<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ensure that the bottom edge of the bodice and the top edge of the shirt are of the same width.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"join<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Join the bodice and the shirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"tunic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Consider adding a belt or sash to cinch the waist of the shirt-tunic for a more fitted look. Next time, I think I would use a contrasting or complementary colored fabric for a more striking look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn the shirt into a top<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dress shirt can be turned into a peplum top by cinching the waist and flaring out the bottom half. This is the super easy way of turning a very loose shirt into a top. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"turn<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another method is to cut the top portion and make it into a gathered neckline top. Check out this tutorial to learn how to turn an old shirt into a top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Turn the shirt into a skirt<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can turn your shirt into a skirt – for this you will need a larger shirt – because it should be wide enough to fit across the hip, without straining. Check out the tutorial to make the shirt-skirt.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"how<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Related posts: Different Shirt Names<\/a> ; Names of dress shirt parts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn the shirt into an accessory<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the pieces of the shirt can be made into a cuff band and a detachable collar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"collar<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just cut off the collar, finish the edges and sew lace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Same with the cuff. Decorate it according to your preference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"cuff<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is just a matter of cutting the cuff off the shirt with some seam allowance, folding the seam allowance to the back and stitching it in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"add<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Turn the shirt into a dicky<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"dickey\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A dicky is a detachable garment that mimics the look of a shirt’s front. It is worn underneath another garment so that you can have two garments without the bulk or warmth of wearing an actual shirt. A very nice thing to have if you like to wear dark academia clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"cut<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cut out the top portion of the shirt near the collar in a curved shape and then hem the edge. That is your dicky. Hope I got the spelling right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"collar<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A nice addition if you like the dark academia vibe<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dark<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Turn the shirt into a make-shift petticoat<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you have lots of short tops and do not want to alter them in any way, the remaining part of the shirt can be used to make a petticoat under your shirt giving it length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
xr:d:DAF7pdRq7hI:12,j:4624488355474552396,t:24020216<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cut the shirt from the waist, make a small casing to fit a 1\/4 inch or 1\/2 inch elastic. Leave a 2 inch space unstitched. Thread the elastic through the this opening through the casing. Sew the ends of the elastic and the opening shut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"elastic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is how you wear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"shirt<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was a little confused by the terms like upcycling, repurposing, recycling. When I looked it up, it seems that upcycling is all about taking an old piece and turning it into something new and equally or more valuable. It keeps the original item’s spirit but changes its use or look, where as recycling is … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11101834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11101655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-upcycling-refashion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11101655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11101655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11101655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11101834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11101655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11101655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11101655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}