Better Late Than Never, Refashion Runway Sew Along Week 1

*Sigh*

 

You know that feeling that sweeps over you when you finish a favorite book series...

that sad, little emptiness?

 

That is how I have felt all month since the end of Refashion Runway, hosted by Beth over at the blog Renegade Seamstress.

 



(Seriously, if you haven't already, you need to go check out what these ladies made each week!

I was impressed and inspired!)

 

When the competition first started (I posted about it here) I fully intended to sew along and share my projects like Beth invited us to.

But life doesn't always happen the way you schedule it out in your mind.

 

Week one, I was staying with a friend.

Week two, I went and stayed with Nana, who is struggling with injuries from a car accident.

(Prayers would be greatly appreciated for her!)

Week three, well....it was halfway spent by the time I got settled in at home again.

 

BUT...as the old saying goes, it is better late than never!

I am not going to let the passage of time keep me from completing my own Refashion Runway challenge projects.

So, here is my week one sew along refashion.

Week 1: Stripes

Before

This over sized purple and white striped T found its way into a $2 bag

of clothes from one of my recent thrifting hauls.



 

 

I just loved the buttons...really, they are the reason I even got this top.

 

 

To get things rolling, I rounded the hem, chopped off some of the sleeve length and lowered the neckline.

 

Those, I hemmed using a zig zag stitch and took in the sides.

I was going for a loose fit top, so I didn't make it too snug.



 

 

After doing all that, the shoulders still drooped and hung off my arms.

Using the cuff from the sleeve section I had already removed, I made a shoulder strap,

or passant of sorts, as I have seen them called elsewhere, by sewing it to the underside of the sleeve.

 

To do this I ripped out a small portion of the seam on the shoulder, inserted the strap through this space, then sewed it down on the underside.

For the other side, I sewed it down on the underside of the neckline.

I learned that it worked best to connect one end of the strip to the other, because otherwise the weight of the sleeve was pulling too much on the neckline.

 

 

This is what it looked like when it was finished.

 

 

After

 

 

And here is my sweet new top.

I think it works, but I'll admit that the bunched up sleeves feel a bit like shoulder pads.

 



More fitted, but loose enough to be comfortable.

Much better, don't you think?

On Tuesday I'll show you what I made for the Denim Challenge...and boy, do I love it!