Altered Clothes: Black T-Shirt Dress

*Picture to be added. This post is a little late coming due to changing internet plans and other adventures, but it has been done. Once photos are available I'll update this post.

Well, I gave it a go. The XXL black t-shirt is now...a slightly thinner black t-shirt. I feel a bit ballsy calling it a dress. Will need some tights or something underneath to wear it out of the house. Or a herd of paparazzi photographing me getting out of cars, either way. Even so, I'm pretty pleased with my efforts and will try to find some suitable thrift shop fodder soon.




"Black T-Shirt Dress", February 2013


I wasn't planning to keep the sleeves that long (I wasn't expecting the sleeves to actually work) but I found I quite liked them at that length after taking in the sides. I'm still considering changing the neck to either a scoop neck, a lower v neck or a sweetheart neckline. Think I'll live with it for a while before I make a decision.

Things I've learned:
- Think about the way pins are facing when putting them in, so you aren't pulling them out backwards when sewing.
- Use stretch cotton when sewing stretchy fabric. Otherwise it goes a bit gathered (which is fine if you want that to happen).
- Drapey skirts need a lot more fabric than a XXL mens t-shirt can provide. The best you're going to get is a little point on either side of the dress.

 Hoping to find a light blue shirt/dress I can alter to I can wear it with my new blue wedges. Though I could wear them with this one and some turquoise jewellery and purse. Making your own clothes really does open up things that might not otherwise be available or affordable, as well as keeping unwanted clothes out of landfill. I'm just glad I have simple tastes.

Altered Clothes

When I was a kid I remember my mum telling me not to tell anyone about my plans before I'd finished, because if I didn't end up doing it or it didn't work people would know and I'd look silly. Well-meaning advice to be sure, but not entirely encouraging. I've certainly inherited some of her self-conscious caution and it stops me from doing a lot of things. I can be afraid to start a project because it might fail and I can't look forward to doing it anymore. And even if I haven't told a single person about it, I still know about it. I witnessed the discouraging failure. That alone can be bad enough.

But even so, I'm starting to push through this rather destructive mindset. Recently I've been reading through the blog of a talented seamstress called Jillian at Refashionista. She takes frumpy, ripped, discoloured or unwanted thrift store finds and alters them so they look like new. I've always liked fabrics - especially the quirky prints you can find in thrift shops. I'm not much of a sewer myself, so I never really considered doing a revamp of something I wouldn't otherwise wear until I saw the projects on her website. Sometimes just taking up the hem and shortening the sleeves is enough to entirely change the look of a dress. 

Here is one of my favourite Refashionista dresses, the Swagger Dress. Go and check out her blog, it's fantastic.

"Swagger Dress" by Refashionista, December 2011, www.refashionista.net

Now that I've seen these kind of alterations, I know it can be done. And if it can be done, then I can do it. I'm going to try making my own clothes. My brother has kindly donated a couple of his old shirts (one black and one purple). I even own a sewing machine. No more excuses. And I'm telling someone (even as vaguely as telling 'The Internet') because I know if I try to back out of it I'll look silly. Maybe that's the point my mum was trying to get across.

If you're going to do something, do it. Don't get lazy. Don't talk yourself out of trying. Don't give up until you've done what you set out to do.