Re -fashion- ating

The original creator of this top clearly knew that women LOVE their arms and shoulders to look 5-10times larger than their actual size. I mean who doesn’t like to look like they could smuggle a cat in their sleeves? (actually I would love that, can you imagine how cute it would be if you trained the cat to pop it’s head out every now and then?)

Regardless of the storage possibilities, I chose to remove the sleeves in order to actually wear this top. I got it from an Op shop, un-worn with the tags still attached (apparently the original owner felt similarly about looking like their shoulders had wings attached). I also only had to pay $2 for it, which already makes me extremely happy with myself. I removed the sleeves and shoulder pads, and simply turned the sleeve over twice (to enclose the raw edge) and sewed it with my sewing machine. I also took the sides in about 2cms on either side, as it was a bit gapey.

This project took a total of 10 minutes, the majority of that spent unpicked the mass amount of fabric on the sleeve seam. The top is a bit sheer, and in polyester, what feels like lining fabric, but as it was so cheap I’m not complaining. Plus the collar is amazing so hopefully that will distract from the loud ‘swishy swish’ sound that accompanies any movement. This is such an easy project, and a wonderful way to make use of the pile of 80s shirts people seem to accumulate for ‘all those costume parties I go to’. Go forth, hack into your clothes!

The title of this post is a bit misleading, it should instead maybe be called ‘making things re-wearable’. I’ve decided to tackle the massive amount of thrifted clothing in my ‘to edit’ pile and hope to capture this here for you. Oh also- I can attach bows to the centre of this top, which, regardless of what my face is doing in this photo, makes me very happy.

Have a good day, happy sewing. Bry xo